I just released yesterday with a friend a new project, Massivo.net. It’s a website dedicated to MMO’s and more specifically to World of Warcraft. I’ve been a player of WoW for the last 5 years, although making a break now till the next expansion comes out. It was a very fun project to do, the Theme was totally made by me from scratch. I’ve learned a lot more about WordPress, Jquery and PHP and made me think of redesigning Paintbits again!

I’ll be releasing a couple of little tutorials on how to achieve some functionalities I’ve done on Massivo.net, like the integration of the Jquery Slider into WordPress.

Anyway if you like World of Warcraft or MMO’s check us out, specially if you’re Portuguese or speak Portuguese.

PS – BTW, don’t forget to Participate on the WEBHS – Paintbits Contest.

Yesterday I have received a couple more keys from Blizzard to the ongoing Beta of Starcraft. I decided to draft them to my readers. I didn’t count my own comments, of course and the raffle was done by using a random number generator website. These were the lucky guys:

Keys sent to the respective e-mails. Have fun playing Starcraft 2 Beta! En Taro Adun!

I’ve been playing the Starcrat II Beta since a friend invited me in. The game is what a long time fan can expect from it, it’s true to its origins, it introduced more advanced RTS features like ground elevation, bigger group management, better build Interfaces, etc… But in the end it’s the original Starcraft with better graphics and an improved gameplay.

A greater emphasis has been give to Battle.net too. You’ll see the introduction of elements that will be familiar to you from other games (including World of Warcraft or Diablo) like Achievements, Groups, Ladders, in-game rewards, etc, etc…

But let’s go to business. I just received 2 extra invites and since all my friends are already playing I’m giving them away. How?

How it will Work

Comment bellow and I will Draft (raffle) the 2 Beta Keys between the first 15 comments. I think it’s fairer than just give it to the first 2 comments, gambling is always more fun! There is also another perk. You’ll need to register and I’ll tell you why. If you don’t and just comment there could be some… let’s say, less legit moves involved! So game on! So if you’re not logged on you won’t have an e-mail associated so you won’t receive the key. I will send it directly to the winners e-mail. I’ll print a screenshot of the “Draft”. Take into consideration that only your first comment will count for the draft and that I will try to track repeated e-mails, more than that I can’t do.

Deadline will be 31th of April today (0:00H GMT 28th April).

Good luck.

EDIT – I wasn’t expecting so much comments so I’ve changed the rules. It’s going to be raffled between all the comments ending today (28th). Good luck! I’ll advertise the winners in another post and contact you by e-mail so make sure you wrote the right e-mail.

Steam has has unexpectedly released a new interface for the Steam client. The old (and current) UI was getting too old, heavy and quite frankly not that much user friendly, the only friendliness you might have found there was based on habit. The new UI on the other hand looks sharp, quicker, lighter and so far, at least for me, Bug free. The new Client is in beta, it brings some new features and enhancements.

The way the new UI organizes your library is way much interesting than the “old” way. You can see the games you have, organized in several views like Details, List or Grid. There is a lot more focus on achievements in the interface, letting you see what you’ve achieve at a quick glance.

Overhaul the new interface is quite pleasant, the streamlined looks feels much more 2K than 90′s, friends information much easier to see, achievement focused, snappier incorporated web browser.
I’ve read that some users have been reporting some bugs, but that is expectable since it’s only in beta, as far as I’m concerned, I haven’t experienced any problem, so I’m going to stick to the beta interface as it’s a lot more enjoyable.

In order to try the new Interface, you have to Download it or choose to opt-in to Beta in your Steam Settings.

Link: Steam New Interface

Auditorium is an intuitive challenging puzzle game, that is certain to guarantee you lots of wasted time…

The conjunction of visuals, audio and logic is a winner in this puzzle game. I liked it a lot. It’s in my Bookmarks for frequent access to kill time.

What is Auditorium?

Auditorium is about the process of discovery and play. There are no right or wrong answers; there are many ways to solve every puzzle. To get started, turn up your sound and fill up the first audio container! We hope you enjoy playing in our Auditorium!

Link: Play Auditorium

Means… promotions! Lot’s of them. There is a timer on Steam front page, when the timer reaches Zero different promotions will activate. Right now as I write this, several games are selling at a 50% cut off. One of them is Grid, a great game for 5 EUROS! Sold!! To me!

Link: Steampowered Early Holiday Promotions

This is one of the most addicting flash games I’ve ever played. I love tower defense games and the detail on this one is awesome. I warn you that this one is really a time waster, as it is very very addicting. Yes… Pinguins are EBIL!

Link: When Penguin Attack

I just added a new page with my World of Warcraft User Interface (UI). I had several requests to upload it after I showed it around in some websites, so after some effort of writing a post listing all the addons, here it is.

I know this will target only a niche of you reading this, but I thought it would be interesting to share it nonetheless. If you’re interested in seeing it, head to the KreUI page for further details and a download link.

In the last days I’ve been occasionally playing a game called Machinarium. Machinarium is the revival of a lost gaming genre, the point and click adventure. As odd as it might seem, there are still place for this kind of games in the market. Machinarium proves that.

It’s a wonderful looking game, with superb details, awesome sounding, easy to use interface, nice background story, simple but effective and it’s addicting. It shows you how a simple game can keep you occupied and entertained for hours.

Machinarium comes from an independent producer, Amanita Design, a fairly unknown game producer (still known by the great Flash Game Samorost) but that stroke gold with this title. It kind of reminds me World of Goo, another game I bought and that was worth every euro.

The game tells you the story of an adorable robot, trying to find his way into the city he was cast out from. Just like any good story, he must find his love and defeat the bad guys.

The most striking aspect of the game, its the visual art. It’s stunning, every little detail it’s marvelous. I’m a fan of this type of game and I haven’t seen one so detail in years. If you played games like Broken Sword, Indiana Jones, Syberia, The Longest Journey, you know what you will find here. Machinarium focus a bit more on Inventory Puzzles where you have to use something you collected to solve the situation you’re on in order to progress than anything else, but commonly you will find other puzzles that are not straightforward, like 5 in a Row challenges and other logical puzzles. The game is very logical, everything you do doesn’t feel random or without a purpose.

The only thing I have against the game it’s its short duration. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’ve read that it’s fairly short. Well, one thing I can say to you, even short, every screen is worthwhile! Try out the Demo, you will not regret it!

This new trailer is amazing.

En Taro Adun