Brick Gamers 52 - Credits Owns All

For the last BrickGamers of the year, we wanted to touch on a topic that we believe is quite close to gamers' hearts which is a far cry (pun not intended) from the glory golden good old days of gaming before Wall Street came and bastardised the holy sanctuary that was the domain of gamers everywhere. Yes, we're talking about the ever-pressing need for money in modern games to get by anywhere - just as how it works in the real world, which was what gaming was originally NOT about - a fictional world where you can escape it all...

Well, asides for the last game, StarCraft 2, which depends on your strategic skills to mine enough minerals to build Supply Depots, many games today depend on expansion packs and the purchase of special items to get you ahead in the game - as merely purchasing the game alone is not enough anymore. Granted, free-to-play MMORPG games may use this business model to earn money, but when you already pay for World of WarCraft, and if you're rich you can buy a fancy horse to upgrade your character in the game, then gaming doesn't really serve it's purpose anymore as it once did. Perhaps one day in the near future gaming will return to its awesome days again - or when gamers are rich enough that they can have disposable incomes to play!

LEGO Ops, Maximum Violence On

Job for a Gamer?

Yes Jack is a man child who seems to try staying from reality as far as possible by indulging on gaming. If you would force a fella such as him get a job, what kinda job would he choose?

Back from the Brink

There are times in life when everything seems to moved passed you and you start to wonder if what you were doing was worth the effort. The past weeks has been such a time so one tried walked away from this and have a second look at it.

All things considered I still love doing this but the schedule format doesn't seems to work anymore as it cracked under daily grinding pressure, so from now the comics will adapt on a flexible time format.

Brick Gamers 51 - Game Expo

You're a gamer right? Why else are you reading BrickGamers if you're not? Oh, right - you're a LEGO fan! Well if you're also a gamer, chances are you've been to a Gaming Expo or Show to catch the latest showcase of upcoming games, make it an outing for fellow gamers to catchup on good times, and in today's Japan-crazy Anime / Manga world, catch some good CosPlay (Costume Dressing) people too! Plus there's chance to get great bargains on games or even gaming hardware to upgrade your game experience! However, the highlight would probably be girls...since most gamers are guys...and we don't mean girl gamers as our previous post...

Urm, no, we're not giving out passes to any gaming shows anytime soon - anyone wishes to sponsor them? :)

Brick Gamers 50 - Girl Gamers

Wow, it's been 50 BrickGamers comics since we started in GameAxis, the South-East Asia regional print gaming magazine. Hard to imagine we've come so far so we've still a far way more to go! Well done Jack! 

For the 50th issue, we decided to do something we're seeing a trend in the gaming scene - female gamers! 

That's right, girls are beginning to enter the scene while it has mainly been a boy's game all these while. Thanks to games like Sims, and Web-based Flash games like FarmVille and other Facebook social games, more girls are beginning to game and some are beginning to take up professional games like First Person Shooters (FPS), and of course, many girls are known to play Computer Role Playing Games (CRPG) like Baldur's Gate - not so much of Fallout, since it's more of a guy's game. It remains to be seen if girls enter the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) arena though - have you seen StarCraft 2 girl gamers? We've seen WarHammer 40,000 table-top girl gamers, so you never know! What about other gaming genres? Have you seen any girls?

Erm, sorry, no contest for this topic - what, you think we're giving out a date with a gaming model? Right...

Black Ops got Hit

As reported in Kotaku.
Well, that is one way to play a game before it is realised :D

Brick Gamers 49 - StarCraft 2 Campaign

Hell, It's about Time! Famous words by the Terran Marine which StarCraft 2 fans will recognise and in the case of BrickGamers, it's about time for our flagship comic which we somehow forgot over the past month! 

Whoops! Our bad! Must be all the SC2 gaming sessions! Speaking of which, we did a take on the SC2 Campaigns to showcase the different types of SC2 gamers out there - do you see any of yourself in this comic? Feel free to share your comments so we can know if there are other types in the SC2 universe or what's the most types out there! We got a pop quiz for you - what type do you think Jack is? Any guesses? :)

Best entry wins a copy of SC2. Now how did that get in there? Let's see if we can do it - first, start guessing!

No LAN? This is Progress!

This subject came out the other day when my gang of friends went out to play starcraft 2 together in a cyber cafe on our weekly bash. Regression in the name of progress in its finest example.

Another reason why I have a number of gamer friends who refuse to buy original copies of SC2, forking out 250 bucks (yes, if you are in this part of the world that is what the price tag looks like) for a game that have no LAN capability while gaming time is getting less and less in the face of daily grind just doesn't make sense for some.

Remote controlled LEGO Metal Slug tank!

Poor coolness with but a common lament across the board on this awesome creation... if only the big gun can fire!

Source: Brothers Brick

Virtual Preemptive Strike

Gaming giant EA has finally back off from the issue of letting players play as Taliban in the up coming Model of Honor title. Read more in CNN's Taliban option removed from 'Medal of Honor'.

New MMO doesn't care if you are Black or White

Yup... a MMO about Michael Jackson is coming next year. Already jokes are flying in the net about how this is suppose to work.

Read more in Destructoid.

I am here! Click me!

Protoss? Zergs? Rival Terrans? Have no fear,Thor is here!
Source: Kotaku

Shame.... but it is a Good Shame

As reported in Kotaku some time ago. More pictures of the event here in Lowyat's Gamer’s Hideout.

Nintendo Lego-tainment System

No comment, any one who grew up playing NES is strongly recommended to watch this, it is awesome beyond words.

Source: Topless Robot

Sit like a Conqueror

Brick Gamers 48 - Social Class Gamers

Did you know that gaming has evolved into a social class as the rest of society as well? Sure in the past it's as simple as either you're a gamer or not - but these days, as the gaming industry has been infiltrated by corporations eager to make money of a rising trend of gamers, the social class system which controls our world has now entered to 'sacred' sanctum of gamers as well. We're sure you know what we're talking about - DRM for a start! Anyway, we decided to visualise the Gaming Social Classes as you will observe below...

No one plays as deep as these Chilean gamers

Source: Kotaku, Trapped Chilean Miners Get PSPs

NZXT Phantom PC case airbrushed with Jalur Gemilang for 53rd Merdeka

For all you Malaysian gamers out there who are feeling Patriotic (not Nationalistic!) this 53rd Merdeka, Answer Sdn Bhd, a local computer distributor, airbrushed the Malaysian national flag, the Jalur Gemilang (Stripes of Glory), on the new NZXT desktop computer chassis, the Phantom. It took 2 weeks to do this! This exclusive case is NOT available for sale (unfortunately!) but it IS available for viewing (for a limited time only!) @ C-Zone, Digital Mall, Petaling Jaya, Selangor till the 5th of September and Atom Computer, Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur from the 6th till the 12th of September 2010. So if you're a Patriotic Malaysian Gamer, go see it!

Brick Gamers 47 - South Africa 2010 World Cup

Opps we did it again! We missed last month's (July) issue of BrickGamers 47, where we covered about the recent World Cup @ Africa, because we got caught up with our Football / Soccer 2010 special over @ BrickLives! So here's the dated comic that appeared in the GameAxis July 2010 monthly printed magazine!

Gaming Addiction Warning Needed

Dude spent 20,000 hours in the past 5 years playing Lineage 2 and now decides to sue NCsoft because it failed “to warn or instruct or adequately warn or instruct plaintiff and other players of Lineage II of its dangerous and defective characteristics, and of the safe and proper method of using the game". Read the whole news on Gamepolitics.

UPDATE - All Communications are off during War

This just in - we found a YouTube video about National Geographic where they made a documentary about StarCraft with the launch of StarCraft 2 recently, a game 11 years in the making, worthy of a highlight with the story of this gaming culture universe:

Might finally be done with the chewing bubble gum part

Last year we saw what looks like the end of Duke Nukem Forever with this comic, then very recently the article of Duke Nukem Finally? showed up in Kotaku. May be we still get to kick ass and chew bubble gum again after all.

Imperial Invaders!

The Imperial dudes from StarWars are staging a grand invasion in this creation by flickr user powerpig.

Source: Brothers Brick

Singaporean Dude get first Copy of StarCraft 2, Cries

Was traveling the whole galaxy until it comes to a stop in the planet Charr lately. All things on hiatus but hey, it was worth it after a decade; a point which is best illustrated in this "old news" of Singapore Man Cries After Being First In Country To Purchase Starcraft II.

Just look at that, without reading the captions you would have think he just became a father wouldn't you?

Overtime with Jim Raynor

Starcraft 2 Launched - Hell, It's About Time!

In conjunction with the much-awaited launch of StarCraft 2 ("Hell, it's about time!" as the Marine would say!), BrickGamers presents to you a LEGO StarCraft 1 short game video. It's bound to bring back memories if you've played it before! Enjoy! Here's hoping if you're one of those who waited till today to get the game, that it's finally worth it after a decade of waiting! Here's also hoping SC2 matches up to being the game of the decade!

We Won't make our Console Users look Bad

If you happen to miss this gem news from Gizmodo's PC Gamers Too Good For Microsoft's Cross-Platform Gaming Project ... let it be known that the software giant is aware and capable of combining players from both platforms into a single playing field, but they won't do it. The idea of having their console customers dishing out huge load of cash to play Xbox only to be bitch slapped by PC users seems counter productive indeed.

Rest Well, Buddy

The process of making a com ready to retire is always like a time trip to the past as you browse through all the files and it was like "oh man! These stuff is like from another life time..." when it was actually just 4 years ago. But then year 2006 definitely sounds like another age now.

You also get to realise a lot of stuff which you thought were important is actually junk in the long run, but ironically a lot of other stuff which you might have thought to be junk are now cherished memories.

Oh This so reminds me of Might and Magic

This great creation by K.O Creation's Bo King Wang really brings back some fond memories of 8-bit era fantasy adventures. Be sure to check out the full gallery for additional details.

Source: Brothers Brick

Nothing can stop him from playing, he says

Brick World Comics Presents World Cup Specials

Well World Cup 2010 has finally came to an end, during the month when it was raging on we have accumulated quite a small collection of comic strips here which are World Cup related so we decided to bundle them out in an easy to see format for you guys to relive some of the World Cup moments. Just click on the image above to access the page, or you can click here.

Talking about LEGO World Cup... how can we missed this chance to promote this uber LEGO soccer site, see Legofussball.eu. for all the glories in LEGO soccer!

We would also like to take this opportunity to introduce the new experimental Brick World Comics blog site which is aiming to cater the "I only want to read the comics" crowd who might find the jumping between our blogs a tedious task. Do let us know what you think!

LEGO Street Shootout

This recent excellent LEGO animation reminds me of Gears of War play style. The solidness of the guns are just spot on. Also take note the guns are from brickarms,

We interrupt this regular service...

Read more on the World Cup 2010 on CNN.com.

Virtual Middle Earth has fallen!

Yeah it is old news and we know it: The Lord of the Rings Online went free-to-play, but the plot is just good enough so we do it anyway, besides what better excuse to show off the great video below?

By the way this is Brick Gamer's 100th comic strip, so fear the part time comic artist!

Wings of Liberty is upon us!

Yeah Star Craft 2 Wings of Liberty is just around the corner, but first we have this awesome diorama from 3vil genius Pepa Quin a.k.a Matt De Lanoy to keep you drooling.

This Gamer needs serious Anger Management!

A recent real life drama which definitely potrays all gamers in bad light, Gamer stabs opponent after in-game knife kill in Counter-Strike makes for a text book case in which people argue violent games promote violence - which stands for may be 0.00001 percent of all gamers population.

There is a Zombie on my lawn

For those of you who played and finished Plants vs Zombies™ you must have heard the sweet credit music at the end of the game. Well guess what? It is sweeter in live session.



You can read all about the artist in her blog here.

Brick Gamers 46 - Wrath of the Leech King?

A bit lost about what this whole comic is about? Then perhaps you haven't read about this before - Blizzard introduced to World of Warcraft, a horse mount called the Celestial Steed, but it's not free. It costs USD25 and offers you 310-percent speed. So if you're a traveller in WoW, you might benefit from the 310% speed increase across the virtual world. However, if you're already paying for WoW and now you have to pay more to get a benefit in the virtual world, it does seem like the real world has now snuck into the virtual world where again, money rules. Think of it as having the money to buy a Ferrari in the real world so you can zip past people because you have the money to do so. Could this be a trend of WoW to come where more items will be sold to enhance your character by the mere power of your wallet to play in-game?

Would you pay USD25 for a horse in an online game just so you can move faster?

Wrath of the Lich King? Or Leech King? Or wrath of the gamers instead? Is this gaming?

Super Mario in bricks!

Simply classic.

Learn New language with gaming

Based on a true story... so it goes the fella in question was defeated in a way which was like totally owned. Before he left the game he said something native to himself and after that he messaged the same thing again via the network, lovely.

Girlfriend deletes Boyfriend's World of Warcraft character

This strip is inspired by the online video of girlfriend deletes boyfriend's WoW character and BF destroys his computer with a twist ending. Chances this idea has crossed the minds of a legion of disgruntled girlfriends worldwide whose boyfriends are spending more time in front of the monitor then with them. With the current craze over the 2010 South Africa World Cup, this might just be the alternative option for boyfriends to hit back (not literally) at their girlfriends!

World Cup is Here

Habbo Virtual Furniture Theft Rampant

A lot of you who played online games can understand how some virtual items are either so powerful or have such novelty value they can actually fetch real money in reality despite being just a cyber item inside a game.

As with all valuables they attract the people who would want to make them their own for either self satisfaction or conversion to cash. Well, since they are virtual item inside cyber space in a game that makes them really hard to "steal" you said? Apparently no more, read this BBC News about Police investigate Habbo Hotel virtual furniture theft and see how the absurd has became reality.

Gaming Bummer

Sort of a modern day gaming bummer, you leave your beloved games for a while when life distracted, when you came back eager to play instead first you are most likely to hit the update bars. Sure it is necessary for the game improvement, sure it is like a modern day essential, but compounding issues like slow local internet connection with big patches plus the ever dwindling time resource it still can be a bummer from time to time.

Now that Make Sense

From the big boss who is responsible for World of Warcraft comes the latest comment which we gamers suspect might be the case all along :DRM is a waste of time.

Brick Gamers 45 - Gaming Kids

Was this what your childhood was like? :) Chances are, unless you're a kid now (or recently), your childhood will look nothing like this - or did you? ;) People use to warn parents about what kids will pick up from TV, these days it's probably what kids will pick up from playing games!

But is it that bad a thing they learn things from games? What if it adds to their knowledge of the world? People are often quick to criticise that which they do not understand, and just like how the famous saying goes for "guns don't kill people, people do" and "technology is a double-edge sword", perhaps people shouldn't be so quick to question the games that kids play today...