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The Jeep Gladiator is for truck buyers craving adventure
The Gladiator is essentially a Jeep Wrangler with a bed strapped onto the back. During my tests, I found it to be capable on both dirt and asphalt. But it's not for everyone.
Get a closer look at Star Citizen's Gladiator bomber
So just what is the Gladiator, Star Citizen's newest ship, and why might it have some players salivating? Recently, the team posted additional information and technical specs on this carrier-based bomber for all those interested to check out. According to the description, "The Gladiator is the UEE Navy's premiere carrier-based torpedo-plane and space-to-ground dive bomber. Operating with Hornet escort fighters, Gladiators have seen service with great success in battles across known space. Rugged to a fault, the Gladiator is the most capable bomber chassis ever designed." Star Citizen is selling the Gladiator as a not currently flyable pledge ship for $165, or or you can pay $180 for the ship and an extras package. It will be available for pre-purchase only through December 22nd, although it will eventually be in the full game upon release. [Thanks to Cardboard for the tip!]
Defiance beefs up its TV cast with big-name stars
Next month the pilot for Syfy's Defiance will commence filming, and the station has announced several additional cast members joining lead star Grant Bowler in the sci-fi post-apocalyptic series. As the show and Trion World's upcoming MMO will share the same world and influence one another, it's quite possible that gamers could be running into virtual versions of these characters. Four new actors have been announced for the show. The first is Julie Benz (Dexter, Angel), who will be playing Mayor Amanda Rosewater, a leader of a small mining town. Stephanie Leonidas (MirrorMask) is Irisa, an alien warrior who's adopted by the lead's character and raised as his bodyguard and daughter. Finally, Tony Curran (Gladiator, Blade II) and Jaime Murray (Warehouse 13, Dexter) are coming on as an alien husband-and-wife team fleeing the destruction of their home world. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
How to transmogrify your mail wearer into a glimmering gladiator
Upgrading your armor proficiency in WoW is a pretty forgettable aspect of the game, but to the transmogrification enthusiast, it creates some potentially interesting looks for level-capped players who wear mail. Mail worn before level 40 is intended to be worn by warriors and paladins and thus has a very different aesthetic than the green and gray mail that hunters and shaman are accustomed to. The look above is an all-mail set created with hunters and shaman in mind, especially those who are sick of looking like earthy animal lovers all the time. By combining a few utilitarian-looking accessories with several pieces from an extravagant level 30 armor set known as Glimmering Mail, we're able to create the look of a flashy celebrity gladiator who is ready to win the crowd once more. Want to recreate this look?
World of Wardrobe: Going out in Outland for tier 4
Heading back to pick up some awesome armor sets from vanilla WoW or that dazzling weapon that'll have your enemies cowering in fear? Transmogrification makes it possible -- and World of Wardrobe shows you how. Now that we've finished our whirlwind tour of Medivh's home and have two pieces of tier 4 in our pockets to show for it, it's time to head to the main highlight of The Burning Crusade expansion and dig up the rest of it. While Karazhan existed on Azeroth, the rest of tier 4 exists in Outland, scattered between two smaller raids -- the lairs of the pitlord Magtheridon and Gruul the Dragonkiller. Both raids were mercifully short when compared to the length of Karazhan, but both required some precision timing by raids to complete successfully. Last week, we touched a little on attunement chains for The Burning Crusade. Long, arduous and a complete pain for those trying to get in on raiding late in the game, the attunement chains in Burning Crusade were systematically removed as the expansion went on. For those who jumped into raiding when The Burning Crusade was launched, however, both Gruul and Magtheridon were required kills to get to the next level of raiding content with the next tier of raiding gear. %Gallery-133615%
The OverAchiever: Mountain O' Mounts from PVP
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, you have to die before I get a new chocobo. Regrettable, but ... We're back with the Mountain O' Mounts series, and today we're going to examine the 10 mounts available to each faction as a result of slaughtering everything and everyone in your path. If you're the type of player who likes to put the "war" back in Warcraft, you'll enjoy the array of options available to a dedicated mercenary. Also read: Combining The Ambassador and Mountain O' Mounts Mountain O' Mounts in Outland Mountain O' Mounts in Northrend Mountain O' Mounts in 5-man dungeons Mountain O' Mounts in raids Mountain O' Mounts from achievements
Gods & Heroes dev blog talks class balance, lifts NDA
Hot on the heels of its GDC updates, Heatwave Interactive has released a new dev blog detailing further aspects of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. The mythological MMORPG boasts four unique character classes (the Priest, the Soldier, the Gladiator, and the Mystic), and today's dev blog offers a look at a few class-specific issues through the eyes of senior content designer Todd Bailey. Bailey discusses how the Soldier and Gladiator differ despite the fact that both focus on close-range melee combat. He also talks about why the Scout and Nomad classes won't be available at launch. "The honest answer is that the Nomad was completely overpowered as a class and just felt like it was the catch-all for abilities that didn't go anywhere else," Bailey explains. He also says that combat tuning and balancing is an ongoing process, noting that the overall combat feel is much improved even though a few new wrinkles have been introduced during the tweaking process. Head to the official Gods & Heroes website for the full dev diary. In still other G&H news, Heatwave has officially dropped the game's NDA, so beta players can now freely talk about the title here and elsewhere!
Gods & Heroes details classes and releases new screenshots
The devs at Heatwave Interactive have given Gods & Heroes fans a bit more information to mull over as they wait anxiously for the title's debut. In a press release dated earlier this morning, Heatwave detailed the game's four character classes and released an accompanying batch of screenshots. While the classes don't stray too far from MMORPG norms, it's nonetheless instructive to see exactly what the game has in store. First up is the Gladiator, who, as you might surmise, exists to do massive melee damage at close range. The Soldier is your basic tank archetype, responsible for juggling aggro and taking a beating for his friends. The Mystic is Gods & Heroes' answer to ranged DPS, while the Priest is, crazily enough, the main healer. You can get a full rundown on Gladiators, Soldiers, Priests, and Mystics at the game's main website, and don't forget to check out the new screens below. %Gallery-118322%
Hands-on: PlayStation Move's Sports Champions
Click for the gallery of Champions You might think it derisive to call Sports Champions (working title) the Wii Sports of PlayStation Move, but it's really intended as a compliment. Although the collection of sports-themed games are relatively simple, they adequately highlight the Move's motion-sensing capabilities and, most importantly, how they're distinguished from those offered by the Wii (something that another Move game, The Shoot, did not do). Like Wii Sports, Sports Champions seems good at selling you on the hardware's abilities -- and what they might mean in more elaborate games. The Gladiator Duel sub-game is a simple affair of blocking and attacking (your character moves towards the opponent automatically), but the Move will take into account the height of your swings and the positioning of your shield (generated by a second Move controller). It'll also sense distance -- if you don't hold your weapon arm back, it'll swing into your own shield to deleterious effect. Aside from swinging and blocking, you can also move both arms upwards to activate a jumping attack, or shuffle the controllers to the side in order to roll out of the way from an incoming strike. Basic stuff, but natural enough to not come across as a tacked-on gesture. Table Tennis was more promising, and easily bested the Wii's equivalent. Your paddle's angle and area of exposure is almost instantly determined by how you're holding the controller. The Move's weight, coupled with the game's quick response and predictable physics, made every swing feel ... just right. It'll be a shame if a table tennis game turns out to be one of the best launch games for Move, but at least it'll stand out as one of the best of its ilk. That's a win, right? %Gallery-87945%
Breakfast Topic: Your predictions for arena season eight
In season seven, we saw beast cleave (beast mastery hunter + enhancement shaman + holy paladin) win the majority of high-profile tournaments and become quite popular. Very few saw it coming. Beast cleave, of course, got handed several nerfs (only one of which was serious) which many considered a death knell, but the composition is still very strong. Towards the end of season seven, protection warriors (and to a lesser extent, protection paladins) were the new flavor-of-the-month craze. Again, almost no one saw it coming. The new season is slated to be quite different from previous arena seasons in WotLK. Resilience is getting a huge boost in effectiveness, increasing the benefit of wearing PvP gear in arenas. Some people (even on arena junkies) are stating that PvE gear will be even better in PvP because of the change. The idea is that arena players can get away with donning more loot from dragons because the added resilience benefit will make up for the forfeited survivability. While I might be wrong here, that sounds like terrible logic. One gladiator is predicting the shift to more survivability will benefit warlocks, warriors, and druids. The same poster believes mages and rogues will be harmed, while everyone else will keep status quo. So, I ask you, breakfast readers: What are your predictions for arena season eight?
Arena season 7 end date announced
Bornakk has just announced that Arena Season 7 is about to end. The planned end date is January 19. Avoid or delay any realm transfer plans on your arena characters until the process is over if you think you can obtain an arena-specific title and/or the Relentless Gladiator's Frostwyrm. During the one week grace period after the end of the season, rated matches will not be in effect. Season 8 is expected to start one week after the current season ends, which means we expect it to begin on January 26. When the new season begins, your team ratings, personal ratings and arena points will be wiped clean. Your matchmaking rating and honor points will be untouched. This also means that Toravon the Ice Watcher will be available to us soon. He is the fourth (and final) boss in the Vault of Archavon. Good luck to those of you who are competing for the rewards!
North American Final Fantasy XIV site introduces Gladiator and Pugilist classes
Are you a fan of punching? How about stabbing? How about punching people while wearing sharp implements capable of simultaneously stabbing them? It sounds like the two most recent additions to Final Fantasy XIV's list of "Disciplines" (that's fancy talk for "Classes") are right up your alley: Everyone, meet the Gladiator and Pugilist. Gladiator and Pugilist, everyone. The two classes are detailed on the game's North American site, and a few of their deadly-looking tools of the trade have also been revealed. If you're a melee enthusiast who's looking forward to the next Squeenix-branded MMO, we highly suggest checking it out. Personally, we're waiting to hear more about the Thaumaturge. (He's got a pointy Black Mage hat, but he's not a Black Mage! We're so confused.)
Final Fantasy XIV details two new classes and weapons
Those of us looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV have a bit more to look forward to now, with a new update to the official site. Continuing the slow reveal that the recent updates have included, this update contains two classes who have been previously named but not discussed in detail, the Gladiator and Pugilist. In addition, the update offers some details regarding the weaponry used by these classes -- which, as we've reported earlier, are the central element for each class in the multifaceted world of the game. Gladiators are what their pictures would tend to indicate, heavily-armored sword wielders with a penchant for close melee combat. They're also slated to be masters of throwing knives, and will have the option of using a shield or eschewing it for more offensive combat. Among their weapons are a number of swords and shields, including the blade-encrusted Lantern Shield that offers simultaneous offense and defense. Pugilists, by contrast, are lightly-armored melee fighters that use a variety of hand-to-hand attacks -- shades of the classic Monk. Their weapons are a bit less novel, but any player familiar with Final Fantasy XI will feel some nostalgia at the sight of baghnakhs and cesti. Take a look at the official site for more information, including the galleries of weapons and multiple images of the new classes.
The Digital Continuum: A week with Aion
After spending a week playing Aion over every other game in my library -- a feat considering I've got Brutal Legend and Uncharted 2 -- I'm feeling ready to discuss the game in a meaningful fashion.It's hard to gauge what kind of game you're dealing with when an MMO launches, largely because the reality is that, often times, much of what an MMO is designed to be will change over the course of its first half year or so of development. With Aion, we're dealing with a deliberately designed concept that's been mostly well executed on -- more on that later.
High-Rated PvPers do the robot
We've gotten a bunch of tips recently that claim some very e-famous PvPers are botting in BGs. If you aren't familiar with the term "botting," Dictionary.com provides us with the following definitions of bot: Bot: –nounthe larva of a botfly. Bot: –noun (Australian Slang)a person who cadges; scrounger. Bot: –nouna device or piece of software that can execute commands, reply to messages, or perform routine tasks, as online searches, either automatically or with minimal human intervention (often used in combination): intelligent infobots; shopping bots that help consumers find the best prices.
Blood Sport: Season 7 - The Death of 2v2 [Updated]
Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all-things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.Season seven is here! The new season brings the same familiar arena combat that we've come to know, love, and sometimes hate. However, the season of the Relentless Gladiator also has many meaningful changes for arena enthusiasts. Abandonment of 2v2 bracket rewards. New ratings requirements on gear. Match Making Rating - is it still busted? The 2v2 bracket is experiencing a significant revampingBefore season seven had started, 2v2 rewards were slated to be completely cut. 3.2 patch notes indicated that Relentless Gladiator gear could only be purchased if a player met the requirements with their 3v3 or 5v5. 2v2 teams, however, could still be used to purchase the previous season's gear (Furious Gladiator gear).
Blu-ray releases on September 1st 2009
Still no new blockbusters as we creep closer to the Fall, but plenty of very solid catalogs. The top of our list is easily one of our favorite movies of all times, Bravehart. The next one, Gladiator, that might be on the top of your list is a skip though -- if you think it is a better movie than Braveheart, you're crazy -- because early reviews say it is one of the worst transfers ever and is actually barely a notch about DVD. Braveheart (Paramount) Gladiator (Paramount) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Ninth Season (Paramount) Bring It On: Fight To The Finish (Universal) Heroes: Season 3 (Universal) State Of Play (Universal) Monster (First Look) Sugar (Sony) Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season (Warner) Earth (Disney) High Crimes (Fox) M*A*S*H (Fox) The Girl Next Door (Fox) Life After People (A&E) The Crusades: Crescent & The Cross (A&E)
The Queue: Simple things
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Today is a day of, apparently, quick questions and quick answers. Most of the questions asked were fairly straightforward and not particularly involved. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is really up to you, but it is what it is: simple. I planned to embed a cartoon at the top of this video, but the aspect ratio made it gigantic if I used our standard width, so there's a link instead.whalt asked... "Any idea if prior season PvP weapons will ever be available from honor/arena points and not require an arena rating like the old Glad weapons were back in BC?"
Delving into the archetypes and specialty classes of Aion
The folks over at Ten Ton Hammer have been cranking out a number of features that examine the various class archetypes and specialty classes of Aion. So far, they've produced two game guides showcasing the Priest and Mage archetypes and had four interviews with NCsoft discussing the Gladiator, Templar, Ranger, and Assassin specialty classes.When creating a character in Aion, you must initially choose one of four available archetypes. Anyone who has played a fantasy MMO or RPG in the past decade or so will find them quite familiar. They are the Warrior, Scout, Priest, and Mage.Once you reach level 9, you're sent on a quest to discover your true identity and ascend to daevahood. The quest is like Red Bull - it gives you wings. At this point you must choose a specialty class defined by your original archetype. Warriors become Gladiators or Templars. Scouts become Rangers or Assassins. Priests become Clerics or Chanters. Mages become Sorcerers(esses) or Spiritmasters.By our count, TTH has covered half the archetypes and specialty classes so far, so keep your eyes peeled for the second half coming soon. We'll also bring you our own impressions of these classes when beta permits. So far, we've been limited to testing some pretty low level characters.
Paramount launches Sapphire Series line of premium Blu-ray releases
Promising the finest Corinthian Leather picture and sound, Paramount is launching its Sapphire Series, two disc high definition releases of some of its greatest films, starting with Gladiator and Braveheart September 1 followed by Forrest Gump in November. That means a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track for Braveheart and DTS-HD MA for Gladiator, while both will have a slew of exclusive new extras. For Gladiator that includes the ability to tag elements while watching the main disc, which will then automatically queue up more information once the second supplemental disc is loaded into the player, while Braveheart's extras focus mostly on the history of the Scottish Rebellion with 3D models and interactive timelines. Paramount didn't mention how much viewers would be paying for these new feature packed editions but they both show a $39.99 MSRP / $27.99 preorder price on Amazon. The press release runs down the extras, though we suspect you'll have to be a pretty big fan (of which there should be plenty for these multiple Oscar winning flicks) to pay the premium over typical catalog releases instead of waiting for them to hit the bargain bin.[Via The HD Room]
