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Breakfast Topic: Your must-have collections
I'm not usually a collector in World of Warcraft, mostly because when I start collecting I want to collect everything in true "gotta catch em all" style. It's a dangerously time-consuming hobby, and so I often avoid it by not collecting in the first place. But every now and then Blizzard throws something into the game -- whether it's a mount, a pet, a piece of gear, or a toy that I just need to have. Case in point: Hogs, the Hogger-alike pet that we'll be able to collect for WoW's 10th anniversary. The description alone is enough to get me: "Tenacious and terrible, the mighty Hogs slaughters weaker enemies without hesitation." Doesn't he sound adorable? Or if not adorable, at least tiny and fierce which is something my gnome monk can certainly relate to. And since he's presumably going to be handed out to anyone who logs on during the anniversary, this will be a lot easier to collect than some of my other must-haves, like Deathcharger's Reins. But tell me, readers -- what are your must-have WoW collectables? Is there anything on your list you've been trying to get but just can't?
New pet and mounts achievements coming soon
You're a pet and mount maniac. You've hunted down every noncombat pet you can find, gotten a lucky roll on every rare mount you can possibly pick up, and after long last, you've earned both the "Lil' Game Hunter" and "Mountain o' Mounts" achievements. But still, you want more for some reason. More pets, more mounts, more achievement points.Good news: Bornakk says that there will still be more to find. While he says they won't be upping the achievements every time they bring out a patch that has more pets and mounts to collect, they will definitely add in new achievements periodically for collecting both noncombat pets and mounts (and, though he doesn't say so, we'd assume they'll add in extra rewards besides the achievement points, including extra pets or mounts to be earned at each level).So if you are in fact a collecting master and have already earned the 75 pets and 100 mounts (a much easier feat than it used to be) for both maximum achievements currently in the game, just be patient. There'll be new goals to go after soon.
Sword of the New World expands with Nocturnal Sonata
IGN has a scoop on the new 'Nocturnal Sonata' expansion to Sword of the New World, an MMO also known as Granado Espada in Asia. Sword of the New World is a free-to-play title brought to North America and Europe by the K2 Network. Massively has looked at this game in the past and found it to be a quirky title; IGN describes its setting as 'the European Baroque period if it was designed by a modern anime artist'. Sword of the New World becomes even more surreal given that its old world setting is juxtaposed with a techno soundtrack. Surreal qualities aside, the game has some interesting features, particularly the use of collectible UPCs, or Unique Player Characters. The concept is somewhat comparable to the Heroes in Guild Wars. You control up to three characters at once who are members of your 'family'; certain NPCs for whom you've successfully completed quests offer themselves up to be added to your family as UPCs and called upon to aid you in your adventures. They provide access to special hybrid classes with unique powers to match. There are over 40 such UPCs, and two more are initially being added in the Nocturnal Sonata expansion: Vincent Rio (who inflicts damage with music) and Baek Ho (martial artist extraordinaire). Yet more UPCs are to follow in the coming months, adding new gameplay possibilities to Sword of the New World. The Nocturnal Sonata expansion will be released on June 25, and closely follows the 'The Land of the Dead' expansion released only three months ago.
Mega Man Star Force 2 coming in June
Capcom has announced that Mega Man Star Force 2 will be out for the DS in June for $30. This action-RPG follow-up to last year's game follows in its Pokemon-like style, releasing in two different editions: Zerker X Saurian and Zerker X Ninja. (Huh. Where's the love for Ninja X Saurian?)The local- and WiFi-network-able game relies on collecting new characters and collaborating with friends. With the right connections, players assemble a "portfolio of Battle Cards with distinct attributes," according to a Capcom fact sheet. We've been trying to get the kids -- and our closeted adult gamer friends -- off Pokemon for years. Maybe this is a step in the right direction?%Gallery-18250%
Wii Warm Up: Star search
We expect that most of you are at least several hours deep into Super Mario Galaxy, smiling with each new discovery and throwback detail. The more dedicated among you have delved in much further, biting right into the tootsie pop to feast on its chocolate center like Mr. Owl and his ruthless beak. Our question today: How many stars have you so far collected in Super Mario Galaxy? Are you the shame of your neighborhood, having rounded up only a few in your journey? Or are you on the cusp of attaining all 120? Don't forget that if you're having trouble finding these shiny balls of plasma, you can always turn to Hardcore Gamer Magazine's video guides!
How far did you get? [update 1]
Sure, one could plow through Twiiight Princess in perhaps a mere 35 hours or so, eschewing all side-quests, collectables, and exploration. But we here at the Fanboy believe that those facets are crucial to the overall Zelda experience, just as important as those silly temples. But how about you? How many golden bugs did you collect; how many heart pieces have you yet to find?The convenient "Complete Calculator" for Twilight Princess will track your vital stats, brave warriors, and return to you a percentage of how much of the game you've completed. Did any of you guys pick up a true 100%? Has your social life been destroyed as a consequence?[via Digg][Update 1: Old link appeared to contain an IE 8.0 page-spoof. Link altered to a happy page of naught but HTML.]
Brainstorming and project management with Curio
It's too bad I didn't know about Curio from Zengobi when I was writing the Get Organized post, as it seems to take quite an interesting approach to collecting, jotting down and organizing information. Billed as an app that "promotes visual thinking gathering and shaping your ideas", Curio definitely seems to be more like a sketchpad than many other similar applications. You can literally place anything anywhere on the page, and includes tools for sketching and drawing - just look at the screenshot which includes an image, lists, an embedded video and some chicken scratch.Curio doesn't stop there though. It also includes a project center, presentation mode, a powerful search companion, tags, LinkBack support, project archiving, web/.Mac publishing and iPhoto exporting. I haven't played with this app yet, but I'm downloading a demo as I type up this post to play with later. Some features, however, are only included in certain editions, so check out Zengobi's feature comparison chart to determine which edition is right for you. A demo is available, while full licenses start at $39.
Packrat can now edit Backpack notes, too
I don't mean to post an update every time the developer of Packrat sneezes, but this one is for those anxiously waiting for editing functionality (including when offline) with their Backpack account. I just noticed on Packrat's product page that the feature list now says: "New: edit your lists and notes." Sure enough, it works just like the lists update I mentioned a week ago.Packrat offers a free demo, and a license will run you a mere $24.95.
OmniOutliner, OmniOutliner Pro 3.6 released
The Omni Group has finalized version 3.6 of OmniOutliner and OmniOutliner Pro, their "amazingly flexible program for creating, collecting, and organizing information." The final version itself doesn't usher in any mind-blowing new features aside from the built-in help being fully localized, but check out their release notes for all the new features they rolled out in previous 3.6 beta releases if you haven't been keeping up.Version 3.6 is a free upgrade for existing 3.0 customers, and is available from the Omni Group's site.
