Your chance to play a sneak peek build of City of Steam!

I'm very happy to be able to announce that the guys over at Mechanist Games have given me 20 keys to hand out for their upcoming sneak peek event for the upcoming MMO "City of Steam".
I've previously had a rather in depth preview article about City of Steam, which is a browser based F2P MMO that features a cool looking steampunk setting, complete with a huge gear-shaped world and mechanical dwarves.

Here are some highlights of the game from Andrew Woodruff of Mechanist Games:

Key Features:


While not all of these will be perfectly working during this sneak peek we hope they will be apparent for future tests and give a taste as to what’s to come.

-Graphics! Sets a new audiovisual standard for browser gaming
-Lightweight! Play from any computer without bulky client installation
-Big World, Tiny Footprint! Intricate, immersive scenes take up mere megabytes
-Gameplay! Hardcore or casual, ten minutes or ten hours
-Teamwork! Go it alone or adventure with friends
-Flavor! Even the smallest detail is suffused with the history of an ancient world
-Customization! Augment weaponry with visible components
-Abilities! Each class wields a unique array of stunning combat effects
-Backgrounds! Each character has a personal history to explore
-Monsters! An extensive bestiary balances raw power with intelligent tactics

Mass Effect 3 Demo impressions - Reapers with a side order of Krogan

I just finished playing through the Mass Effect 3 demo and I'm pleased to say that I'm still very excited to play the full version of the game, when it releases later this month.
The demo gives you a chance to play through two different segments of the main storyline, where one is primarily focused on the narrative and cinematic effects, while the other mission is more about showcasing Mass Effect 3's combat.
After the very mood dampening experience that it was to play the demo for "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning", I was almost scared to try out this demo, in case BioWare had managed to ruin my favorite gaming franchise.

You get a chance to spec out your Shepard before you start the demo, so you can choose if you're going to play as a male or female, your background story and also select which class that you want to play as. Sadly you don't get to import your save game Shepard for the demo, but I guess that would be a bit overkill as you'll be through the two missions within an hour or two.

"Oh crap, Reapers! This is going to significantly reduce local property values"

After a nice intro sequence the demo kicks off with the first mission, which sees Shepard back on Earth where he has been stripped of his military rank after an incident that you could play through in the last bit of DLC for Mass Effect 2.
When reports of human colonies going dark suddenly start pouring into Earth military command, Shepard is brought before the armed forces leaders to confirm the obvious; the Reapers have finally shown up and have begun nom-nom-noming on the sentient beings of the galaxy.

Events really pick up when Earth itself comes under attack by Reapers and Shepard needs to escape the military compound while it is being assaulted by Reapers and the zombie-like "husks".
Your old buddy Admiral Anderson is also there to help you out, as you scramble through the apocalyptic war zone, which also acts as a tutorial for introducing you to the various controls of the game.

Mass Effect 3 Demo is hitting the web today

Just a friendly reminder for those of you that may have missed it that today is the day where we get a small taste of the space opera goodness that is Mass Effect 3.
The content of the demo is sounding pretty juicy as BioWare presents it on the official Mass Effect 3 webpage:

"Crap. I should have brought my ship"

"The demo begins in dramatic fashion with the spectacular opening attack on Earth, after which you're thrust headlong into a mid-game section showcasing the groundbreaking interactive storytelling, adrenaline-pumping action, ruthless and intelligent enemies, and deep customization that make Mass Effect 3 the must-have title of 2012."

In addition to whetting our appetites for the single player blowout, the demo will also offer you a chance to try your hand on the brand new multiplayer part of Mass Effect 3.
You'll get to try two co-op missions that sees you and your fellow players facing off against the invading enemy hordes, in a heroic defense of planet Earth.

The demo will be available for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

I'm interested in seeing if any of my top 5 things I'm looking forward to seeing in Mass Effect 3 things are present in the demo.



 Subscribe in a reader

Light Speed Gaming Week in Review: February 6

The end of another has blown right past us again, leaving me dazed and confused, with an unexplainable craving for potato chips. Such is the infinite mysteries of the space-time continuum!

Let's see what I pulled out of my wrinkly brain bag last week, shall we?

The demo of Jagged Alliance. Back in Action did not exactly put the game on my "must buy" list..

My first post of the week was another one of my semi-regular gamin' complainin' posts, this time the target of my bile was the massive sequel overload that we're seeing in the gaming scene at the moment.
Getting older really does make you a lot more susceptible to getting pissed off by current trends, I guess. Can't wait for reaching new stages of intolerance once I hit 30 later this year!

Next up was a good bout of self back padding as I announced that Light Speed Gaming has now serviced more than 50.000 viewers since the launch back in September.
Aside from giving me a chance to bask in my own blinding glory of success, this post also provided me with the opportunity to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who has passed by the site.

Returning to producing something with slightly higher public service qualities than listening to me bitch about the state of gaming or reading about my insignificant internet achievements, I wrote up my experiences with the Jagged Alliance: Back in Action demo.

Kicking off the weekend was a guest post, which gave impressions on The Darkness 2. I've never personally played either the original or this brand new sequel, but from the sound of this quest post it sounds like I might have to pick it up and give the old demonic snake routine a try.

Closing out the week was yet another of my posts about making money in SWTOR.
This time my focus was on my own experience of grinding out money on the GTN at a slow and casual rate, which has so far worked out well enough to get me around 700.000 credits over the course of around a month.

Stay tuned to Light Speed Gaming for more on science fiction and video games!



 Subscribe in a reader

SWTOR Money Making Status - The slow but easy way to 700.000 Credits

There are lots of ways to earn money in SWTOR. You can earn credits from doing your space missions or from running all your daily quests for example. These are both two sources of pretty decent income and will quickly line your pockets with space money. But what if you, like me, are kind of lazy and loathe the idea of wasting your game time on grinding out the same missions over and over?

Want to be rich like a Hutt? Got the energy level of one as well?
Fear not, there is hope for you still!

Being a veteran WoW player I have had more than my fill of daily questing. I can get behind the idea of having daily quests in a MMO. It's a way for the developers to ensure that the players will always feel they have something to do in the game, even when they've reached max level and completed all the normal quests.
However, it's also a way of creating content that will eventually suck out your will to live straight through your skull.
No matter how interesting a daily quest is (and the daily quests in SWTOR are not that interesting to begin with), the magic will be long gone by the time you're making your way through it for the 20th time that month.
So that's why I personally have forsaken the daily quests in my attempt to preserve my gaming sanity.

That's why I've taken a more comfortable route to earning my SWTOR money.
I've already shared with you how I got 100k at level 25, and I've also posted about making money on the GTN auction house and further elaborated on this practice in a later post.
Today I thought I'd share my own story about where I'm at now with earning credits and how I've been using a slightly less aggressive method of the one I've outlined in my previous posts.

I didn't really start to put any effort into squeezing the most out of the GTN until I was done with my Sith Inquisitor storyline. At that point I was level 49 and with little motivation to do more questing, I decided that it was time for me to dive into buying and selling on the auction house and see if that could earn me some space bucks.
My credit balance was a reasonable 637.000 credits at that time, which was the result of following the basic tips of only having gathering crew skills and not spending any money on the GTN as I was leveling.