NAG October 2011 Issue Out This Week

The new NAG is on the shelf today. But the local 711 (now Friendly 711) near where I live says that it won’t be in on Thursdays from now on – they can only manage Fridays, maybe Saturday.

Maybe I’ve mentioned this before, but I read in the NAG years back that to get the NAG on Monday is impossible; Tuesday is rare; Wednesday is uncommon; Thursday is common; Friday is definite; and Saturday or Sunday means that you should try buying the magazine elsewhere in the future. I didn’t ever think I would fall in to the last category. But I have. I should really consider subscribing after all these years. You think I would have learned by now.

Anyway, this NAG has some special stuff in it. There’s a big Borderlands 2 feature – and if you know NAG, you’ll know they’re massive Borderlands fanboys, the lot of them.

There’s some “impressions” or a preview of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Darksiders II and The Darkness II (try not to get confused). There’s reviews of some worthwhile games for a change. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Resistance 3, F.E.A.R. 3 – some good solid games there.

Unfortunately for the DVD, it seems that NAG has gone back to putting whatever they like on the DVD again, as for the life of me I can’t see a new DVD Suggestion thread on the forum – it used to be a sticky at the top of the “gaming” section. There was a lack of one last month, and this month it’s the same. It was mostly rubbish that was posted there anyway. People were asked to post direct links and they didn’t. Nobody reads anymore.

But I don’t even need the DVD anymore, seeing as I’ve still got a broadband deal for the next few months – and I’m putting it to good use even though the service often sucks. I wonder why I just don’t stop buying the NAG altogether. You think I would have learned by now.

The DVD has the usual trailers, plus some new Pop Fiction videos – which I look forward to. There’s also the some Rage teaser clips and mp3s showing all of those who didn’t go just what they missed out on. Living in Cape Town sucks if you’re a gamer. Barely any LANs; no expos like Rage; full of jocks – this is starting to sound like that column from an issue or two ago. Stop it.
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http://www.nag.co.za/
http://www.nag.co.za/forums/showthread.php?17607-NAG-October-2011-issue

NAG October 2011 Issue Out This Week

NAG September 2011 Issue Out Now

I went to the local convenience store On Thursday last week to pick up the NAG, and lo and behold, it wasn’t there. Friday I returned and it still wasn’t bloody there. Saturday I went back and finally, I managed to get it. So instead of doing anything constructive on a Saturday afternoon, I sat there watching all the trailers on the DVD. Don’t judge me.

And to add to all this, it wasn’t until later on in the week that they even got a post up on the main website’s blog, or on the forum about the September issue. Tsk tsk.

Still, I’ll tell you if this issue has anything worthwhile in it, if you haven’t bought it by now. There’s a feature on 10 games that changed the industry, as well as Diablo III – the fellas at NAG go mad over anything Blizzard. Then again, a lot of people do.

There’s a preview on Bodycount – a game that I sometimes confuse with Epic’s Bulletstorm, or maybe Brink. I think it’s the titles of these games. There’s a few lacklustre reviews on games such as Call of Juarez: The Cartel, which I knew was going to suck as it made a complete departure from the series theme. Then there’s Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows: Part II – like the reviewer states: at least it’s the last one. The Sims 3: Generations doesn’t look like it ads much to the original game, unlike its previous expansions.

The DVD has a few good things on it. There’s the Cheatbook database 2011; There’s a few demos, including a demo of Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows: Part II so you can try it out for yourself and see if it’s that terrible; there’s several free games too, and a soundtrack to be had, in addition to the usual trailers. If you’re looking for graphics card drivers for Windows XP, you won’t find them here. So you’ve gotta download ‘em yourself, seeing as NAG only does Vista and Windows 7 now.

Can anyone say “boycott”?

Check out the links below to get to NAG’s website and the forum thread dedicated to this issue. Highlights from the September issue thread: an off-topic argument that spans 2 or 3 pages, and has nothing to do with “what did you think of this issue?”.

By the way, the DVD suggestion thread for October isn’t up yet, as of publishing this post.

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NAG September 2011 issue

[NAG] September 2011 issue

NAG September 2011 Issue Out Now

Finally! Pippa has come back to The Verge!

If you didn’t get it, that was supposed to be a reference -quote-wise- to The Rock, Dwayne Johnson.

Yes, it’s true. Pippa Tshabalala left The Verge for a few months, for reasons still unknown to me. In her place, Thomas Gumede hosted the show right from about January this year until now. That was a gruelling six months or so. Pippa still appeared on the show in some form doing some retro reviews of old gaming series, technology and the like, but wasn’t physically there in person, as far as I could tell. Likely just taped.

But on Monday and Wednesday night’s live episode of The Verge, I was actually pleased to see that Pippa is back! Never again will I complain about… practically everything about her. She’s nothing compared to Thomas anyway. Thomas is a special, one-of-a-kind person*.

Welcome back!

On a related note, Pippa now also writes for NAG magazine as a columnist and has been doing so for the past few months during her break from hosting The Verge.

* Sarcasm

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The Verge on Facebook

The Verge on Twitter

Finally! Pippa has come back to The Verge!

NAG July 2011 Issue Out This Week

I didn’t post about the last issue coming out last month due to the aforementioned complication which I’m sure I blogged about not too long ago.

I suddenly realised that it’s the last Thursday of the month this week, and that means that the latest NAG will be out. Looking at the contents PDF, I can see that there’s two interesting features this time round: one on Battlefield 3, and another on “The Top 8 developers who fell from grace”. I can only imagine that 3D Realms is in that list somewhere. If not, it bloody well should have been.

Speaking of which, believe it or not, Duke Nukem Forever was released earlier this month. I’m busy playing it as we speak (or as I type anyway), and I’m liking it quite a bit. The reviews out on the web suggest that a lot of people don’t, and I’m looking forward to seeing what NAG’s take on the game is, seeing there’s a review on it in the magazine. The fellas on the NAG Online forum seem to enjoy it.

Other reviews include one on LA Noire, Brink, and Operation Flashpoint: Red River.

As for the Cover DVD, there’s a new edition of the NAG CD Database, new graphics card drivers, and something from Musica. There’s the usual trailers and video, including the return of the popular Pop-Fiction series to the DVD.

And lastly, the new August Cover DVD Suggestion thread is open now, so head over there and put down your recommendations.
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NAG July 2011 issue

[NAG] July 2011 issue

[DVD] August DVD suggestion thread

NAG July 2011 Issue Out This Week

NAG May 2011 Issue out This Week

This Thursday, the 28th of May, sees the release of the latest issue of NAG – SA’s premier (and one of only a few) gaming magazines.

So what’s in store for us this time? Like last issue was the Duke Nukem issue, this one is going with a whole Tomb Raider theme, and that is the cover feature. Inside there’s a preview feature as well as two interviews if you’re interested in reading, and not gawking at Lara Croft. In fact, nobody except possibly some people at NAG, and probably Crystal Dynamics, know what the cover looks like. There wasn’t one on the website – and therefore there’s no preview image here: because there’s an embargo on the cover image. First game reviews, and now magazine covers…

There’s also some previews on titles such as Portal 2 - now released in the real world, as well as Red Faction: Armageddon – a game inspired by Dead Space if I ever saw one.

The reviews section has a lot of hot new games, like Crysis 2 (played it – awesome!), Dragon Age II, Homefront, and The Sims: Medieval.

As for the DVD, I see that three of my suggestions made it onto this month’s issue. One of them is Red Eclipse – a game featured in one of my "Web’s Worthy Downloads” posts. The other is the Dragon Age II HRP (or high resolution texture pack). Oh, and there’s a Torchlight demo on there too. I suggested all of those in the May DVD suggestion thread on the NAG forums… I think.

Speaking of which, now that the May issue is out, the June DVD suggestion thread is now open. Check for all necessary links below the post.

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NAG May 2011 issue

[NAG] May 2011 issue

[DVD] June DVD suggestion thread

NAG May 2011 Issue out This Week

NAG April 2011 Issue Out This Week

Like NAG has printed proudly on the post on their website: it’s the birthday issue this month. NAG has been around for thirteen years. NAG is officially a teenager now!

You might notice a redesign of the magazine this issue - apparently this happens every year. Not to mention that NAG online has had a new lick of paint done as well. And the new look is going down much better than some other new sites that tried the same thing recently.

As you can see by the cover, Duke Nukem Forever features heavily in this issue. Miktar Dracon even attended the T*tty City event in Las Vegas a while back, so there’s much to report on there.
I was just having a look over on the forums, and the general consensus is that this is one of the best covers ever featured on NAG magazine – perhaps bar the white birthday issue from a few years back. I think this might well be better than that, though.

Pippa Tshabalala, who has taken a beak from hosting the shows on DSTV - The Verge and PlayR – also has a column in this issue. I wouldn’t say this is really the reason why she took a break from the show, but I am hoping that she makes it back, sooner rather than later. Having to put up with Thomas Gumede for the past month….

There’s not much that catches the eye when it comes to content inside the magazine (apart from Duke Nukem Forever), unless you count a review of the crazy Bulletstorm.
One thing I noticed is that the contents on the DVD are not listed in the PDF which you’ll find on the website. So you’ll have to wait until you buy it to see what’s on it. Sucks.

Oh, and while you’re at it, you might want to have a look at the brand new NAG Facebook page. Yes, there’s all ready an existing group on Facebook, but from what I’ve read, the group’s content will slowly be migrated over to the new page. Don’t know what all this is in aid of, but another new thing to check out.

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Sources:
NAG April 2011 issue
[NAG] April 2011 issue

NAG April 2011 Issue Out This Week

KTV Going off the air at the end of March

I was going through my news feeds, like I usually do, the other night, and I came across something on the NAG Online forum that sort of shocked me.

Do you remember as a kid, coming home from school, and before you’d done anything else – boring stuff; taking a dump, getting out of uniform, eating, or doing homework – you’d plonk down in front of the TV, and tune in to KTV (or Kid’s TV, so I was told years ago), on MNET?

KTV is going off the air this year. First it was Animax (didn’t care - it came back better actually, as SonyMax) – now this.

I couldn’t believe it myself. Here we were in the 90’s as kids growing up, going to school -and we grew up with KTV. And somewhat amusingly the reason behind its demise is this:

''The kiddies block, KTV is falling away from 1 April,'' says Lani Lombard, M-Net's communications manager. ''The reason for that is that the M-Net and KTV audience have grown up,'' she says. The audience has moved. For subscribers who have DStv have moved to the 24 hour kids channels like Nickelodeon and all the other DStv kids channels. So there will still be some kids programming, but no longer a specific kids block.''

Summarised as follows: “The kids of today aren’t interested in KTV – they have the cartoon channels on DSTV to watch”.

Hell, the kids of today aren’t interested at all. From what I’ve heard, they’re too busy drinking, smoking, taking drugs, and boinking… at the age of 8. Where has the innocence in the world gone? I was twice that age before anything like that crossed my mind.

Anyway, KTV is said to be going off the air on Thursday 31 March. And it apparently won’t be rebranded or such, although likely will be replaced by something or other. Saturday, April 2nd is the last episode of the Power Edition. After that, KTV is no more.

Anyway, come on guys and gals, tune in to KTV for the last time and just savour the memories.

Good bye, old friend. Forever Young.

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Sources:

teeveetee.blogspot.com

KTV going off the air

KTV Going off the air at the end of March

The Web’s Worthy Downloads [Guide to Goodness]

This is a new feature that I’ve decided to put on the blog. Here every now and again, I will put down all the stuff on the web that’s been released lately (and sometimes not) which is worth downloading. It could be games; music; programs – you name it.

I might do this weekly, biweekly, or even monthly. I’ll see how it goes. But one things for sure – everything you read about here is free, and therefore, very likely legal to download and play or use.

This week, I have a few good things for you:

The latest version of WGRealms 2: Siege Breaker was released this week. What is WGRealms 2? It’s a total conversion for Duke Nukem 3D, and the sequel to the original WGRealms – which was but a mere collection of maps for DN3D. Siege Breaker has new weapons to play with, as well as several maps, of which you’ll notice inspiration from several other 90’s era FPS titles, such as Hexen, Doom, and Quake, among others. Look out for a review of this on the blog at a later date, perhaps.

Next up is a high resolution pack, or HRP, for the upcoming Dragon Age 2 - for the PC version, of course. This has been released for free on the game’s website. It weighs in at over 1 GB, and by the looks of it you will need a hefty rig to handle it.

And then I just read about the Crysis 2 multiplayer demo the other day, which is available. That and the new patch for the demo. All in all, also over 1 GB this time for the two combined. For what it’s worth, I read somewhere that this demo was responsible for losing about half of Crysis 2’s PC market. And people wonder why some companies opt to have a post-release demo.

And there’s also a King’s Quest III remake out now by AGDI! It’s been years since the last two were released. There is another remake of the third game, but it was handled by another “studio”. This new one is more inline with what you’d expect from AGD Interactive, previously known as Tierra. This redux was made in AGS, or Adventure Game Studio – an excellent program to use when looking to make a classic Sierra or LucasArts point and click, or text-based, adventure.

Some of these downloads are quite hefty, but in the likely case that you won’t have the time or data to handle getting them yourselves, I have suggested all of these for the latest NAG cover DVD. Whether they’ll appear on there is another story. But more often than not, they often do. Note that NAG to my knowledge is only available for the most part in South Africa as well as some limited bordering countries. Of course you might be able to smuggle one in to the USA or wherever you live.
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WGRealms 2: Siege Breaker [56 MB]
Crysis 2 v1.2 Multiplayer Demo Patch [38 MB]
Crysis 2 Multiplayer Demo [1.55 GB]
Download King's Quest III Redux: To Heir is Human [231 MB]
Dragon Age II High Resolution Texture Pack [1.1 GB]
[DVD] April DVD Suggestion Thread

The Web’s Worthy Downloads [Guide to Goodness]

NAG March 2011 Issue Out Today

Today sees the arrival of the latest issue of NAG hitting shelves.

There’s some good news right off the bat here. This issue of NAG is said to be up in page count, and I also saw by looking at the contents page that the spine will return some time – maybe next month, seeing as the April issue will be NAG’s birthday issue.

So let’s look at what’s in this issue of NAG:

Homefront gets the cover this issue, with some features on the Tomb Raider reboot as well. Previews include a look at the Mortal Kombat reboot, and reviews – the major feature here is Dead Space 2, released last month.

The Cover DVD – which is the reason we all buy magazines anyway – has several demos on it, none of which I’ve heard of before. The extras section does have some cool stuff by the looks of it, with a few suggestions I’ve made in the past on there. These include Pixel Force: Halo, and Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead. And a mod that I suggested a long time ago is here too: Command & Conquer 3: The Forgotten.
Speaking of suggestions, to coincide with the release of the new issue, the April DVD suggestion thread is now open for your links to whatever it is that you want to appear on the DVD. Remember that it pays to be patient, and always have direct links in your posts if you want a chance.

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NAG March 2011 issue
[NAG] March 2011 issue
[DVD] April DVD Suggestion Thread

NAG March 2011 Issue Out Today

NAG February 2010 Issue Out Today

It’s time. It’s NAG time. I thought I’d save you having to read through “it’s the last Thursday of the month”. Oh dear, I did it again it seems.

Anyway, NAG will be here this week to save me from an otherwise uneventful month, games wise. There’s been the typical drought after Christmas, with things usually heating up more towards Q2.
So let’s see what’s in store for us with the February 2011 issue. Crysis 2 is making the big news this time, nabbing the cover, as you can see. By the way, it looks like the Crysis 2 demo doesn’t seem to be going down well with some people, according to players of the game on Twitter. I don’t think the game will be that bad, but it won’t really be Crysis.

Reviews cover Gran Turismo 5 and WoW: Cataclysm, as well as Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 1 – needless to say the first in a line of games based on the classic sci-fi series.
As for the DVD, only one of my suggestions made it on to the DVD, and that was the StarCraft II demo. There’s also a demo of Bejeweled 3 (here we spell it with two ls, but whatever). As for the extras there’s 8 free game soundtracks (can’t wait to check those out), and a new updated version of the always useful NAG CD database.

Plenty of drivers this issue, along with THE TRAILERS!!! 135 of them. You wanted them, here they are.
By the way, the new DVD suggestion thread for the March issue is now open, so go there, sign up (or log in), and post your links to whatever you wish to appear on the DVD. There’s about a 10% of it doing so, but do it anyway.
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Sources:
NAG February 2011 issue
[NAG] February 2011 issue
[DVD] March DVD Suggestion Thread

NAG February 2010 Issue Out Today

Thrifty Thursday: Trials Legends

This last issue of NAG’s Cover DVD arrived in stores on Christmas Eve just lately, and naturally, I picked it up, along with something else called a magazine. On there was the usual stuff, but under free games I saw that there was a title by the name of Trials: Legends.

I’ve played one or two of these games in the past, most recently Trials HD, which looked a hell of a lot better graphically.

This Trials: Legends “celebrates the early years of RedLynx Trials”, from 2000 to 2005. I have had a on and off love affair with games involving FMX and the likes, including MotoRacer and Motocross Mania, and so I obviously couldn’t wait to try it out. Legends was released in November 2010.

Do you remember playing a game years ago called Elastomania? Trials is essentially like that game – just as mad and probably a little on the unrealistic side at the very least, but still fun as hell.

Trials pops under the Thrifty Thursday column seeing as it’s completely free. It’s basically a compilation of 33 tracks released in previous Trials games over the years. Not only this, but it comes with six different bikes, as well as a track creator. There’s also 15 ranks to go through before finally reaching the ultimate status of “Legend” – this happens when you beat all 33 tracks and the 3 marathon campaigns which each take place over 12 tracks. After you do all that, you can also compete in the online leaderboards for the fastest time achieved on a track, so there’s quite a bit to do then.

You obviously take control of a bike, which has some exaggerated suspension. And it’s your task to take on some challenging courses filled with frustrating obstacles, as you try to conquer them with the power of physics. Depending on the bike you pick, these courses can be easy, or they can be a nightmare. The best bike I find is the fifth one, which is the heaviest and the fastest too. I was able to complete most tracks with it. It has the power to climb up steep slopes, and more often than not can bypass several obstacles in your path with one big jump. It does have a tendency to be twitchy and can be a bit overpowered in some places. All the bikes have their strengths and weaknesses.

The sounds in the game are a bit repetitive and annoying, with the manager shouting commands at you sounding quite funny. I wish there was a way to jump off the track and crush him. The sounds of the various bikes are convincing enough though.

Graphically, it’s dated. The riders look blocky and comical-looking, and the animation is rather poor. It’s all 2D as well, which does make it look as though it belongs in the 1990’s instead. But the backgrounds are quite detailed, and remind one of pre-rendered backgrounds you might have seen in some games – even more modern ones. It doesn’t hold a candle to the more beautiful Trials HD, but it’s what one would expect more or less for a free game.

                     Proof that I did it! I did it! It drove me crazy, but I did it! 

After several hours of play over a period of 3 days or so I as able to reach this coveted spot. Now it’s on to the track creator! This is easier said and done though as the “editor” will make you work more within an external image editing program, such as PhotoShop, to create tracks. But you can make them out of almost anything, including photos or screenshots from other games! In fact, as I think more and more about it, Trials Legends almost reminds me of Worms, for some odd reason.

You can also go onto the Trials: Legends forums and download all the fan-made tracks that have been uploaded, too. My advice is to try your hand at making some, because I’ve tried some of those tracks, and they’re nowhere near as good as the ones that come with the game… yet.

Overall Rating:

/ 8/10

Thrifty Thursday: Trials Legends

NAG January 2011 Issue Out This Week

You’d expect the last issue of NAG of the year to arrive on the last Thursday of not only the month, but the year – which would be the 30th of December. But it isn’t coming on that date. It’s coming this week instead – on Christmas Eve in fact! Yes, on the 24th of December, as usual NAG will arrive just before Christmas day.
Looking at the write-up on the site and in the contents, I can can tell you that the issue will feature the likes of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (good) and Fallout: New Vegas (great), as well as some other game like the new Need For Speed (meh), and James Bond: Blood Stone (lol).

Worthwhile stuff on the DVD includes System Shock Portable v 1.2 – suggested by yours truly months back. What SSP is, is a launcher or port of sorts for modern systems to run System Shock, the classic game from 1994, and prequel to its perhaps more well-known sequel: System Shock 2. SSP comes packed with the game itself too, seeing as it’s abandonware and it’s okay to distribute that sort of thing (sarcasm). There’s also a free game by the name of Trials: Legends. Trials is a motocross title similar to the likes of Elastomania, but much better looking.

Then, there’s the usual hundreds of videos on there too – but you’d know this by now if you buy the magazine regularly. I tried to decipher some of the other stuff that was on the Cover DVD by looking at the contents PDF, but it looks really sh!te for some reason. I can hardly read it.

By the way, the February Issue DVD suggestion thread is now open as well. So if there’s something you want to see on the next DVD, then post it there. You have to register though.

Sources:
NAG January 2011 issue
[NAG] January 2011 issue
[DVD] February DVD Suggestion Thread

NAG January 2011 Issue Out This Week

NAG Competitions Every Day For 3+ Weeks This December

NAG Magazine’s online presence, known as NAG Online, is going to be having a long series of competitions this month, running from the 1st of December right up until the 24th – Christmas Eve, naturally. That’s one competition every day.

Prizes up for grabs include hardware to games and so on. All you have to do is either comment on the post of each individual competition (you need to register to do so), or send an email to NAG. And if you do, you automatically get entered in to the competition in question. By commenting, instead of emailing, you also become eligible to win a USB flash drive courtesy of Corex.

The winners of the competitions will be drawn in January (likely the NAG staff will be having a little holiday for a while). Only South African residents may enter the comps by the way.

Source: Competition: 24 Days of Giving - Competition: 24 Days of Giving [NAG Online]

NAG Competitions Every Day For 3+ Weeks This December

NAG December 2010 Issue Out This Week

This Thursday sees the December 2010 issue of NAG magazine arrive.

Previews (typed erroneously as “Reviews” in the contents) include BioShock Infinite. The reviews section offers up Medal of Honor and Call of Duty: Black Ops, as well as Fable III and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II – which some claim was one of the year’s biggest disappointments.
The cover DVD has a few things to offer, like a demo of a fan-made Sonic title, which according to some puts Sonic 4 to shame – not that I’ve played it. There’s also Arcania: Gothic 4, which I’ve read some describe as similar to Thief: Deadly Shadows (?).

I see that one of my DVD suggestions made it onto the disc this month, with the free full game named White on there. Everyone loves a free game. And there’s a total of 139 movies on the disc too…

Source: NAG Online

NAG December 2010 Issue Out This Week

November 2010 Issue of NAG Magazine Out Now

Once again, it’s that time. Last week of the month. Can’t believe it’s November soon. Just before Halloween, Thursday (today) will see the latest issue of NAG on shelves.

As some on the forums have said, it doesn’t look to be anything that special this month.
The magazine has a review of the latest zombie slaying title, Dead Rising 2. And there’s also Borderlands: Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution.

The DVD has a couple of soundtracks from games such as Split/Second.
It’s an average issue then. Probably the December issue will break the eerie silence.

Source: NAG November 2010 issue [NAG Online]

November 2010 Issue of NAG Magazine Out Now

NAG Magazine October 2010 Issue Out Today

It’s the last week of September, and right on the last day of the month - which is today – the new NAG will be out. It’s the October issue, and Halo: Reach, mercifully the last game in the series, has the cover.
Looking at the cover and reading through the contents page available on the site, my eyes caught the following interesting stuff:

The Looking Back section covers Duke Nukem 3D this month – very appropriate considering that the game’s long awaited sequel, Duke Nukem Forever, has come back out from under its rock and in to the public eye again. Even DNF has a feature in the mag. Of course when you read the comments over at the forum concerning the title, you’ll see that practically nobody wants to see it wasting any space in the magazine at all. Me? Bring it on!

Then there’s some major Call of Duty: Black Ops stuff, plus previews on Crysis 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the latest in the Mortal Kombat series… called Mortal Kombat.
Reviews include Mafia II, Kane& Lynch 2: Dog Days (from what I’ve read it was also crap), and that latest Lara Croft title: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Worms: Reloaded also managed to squirm its way in there in the reviews section somewhere.

As far as stuff on the DVD, I’m glad to see that the demo of Amnesia: The Dark Descent is on there. I recommended that over on the DVD suggestions thread, you know. The game is the latest from the people who brought you the Penumbra trilogy, so it should be properly scary. There’s also a demo of Metro 2033. I’ve played the full version, and you should at least play it once.

Unfortunately, I don’t see the Thief II remastered soundtrack on there, because I really wanted that. I’m downloading it anyway, so that doesn't matter too much.

BTW, you know I thought I’d mention that the editor of NAG magazine, Michael James, was on The Verge the other night, talking about the magazine and rAge - which is coming up next month. This issue of NAG is the rAge issue apparently.

Sources:
http://www.nag.co.za/2010/09/nag-october-2010-issue/ [NAG Online]
http://www.nag.co.za/forums/showthread.php?t=15249 [NAG Online Forums]

NAG Magazine October 2010 Issue Out Today

September 2010 Issue of NAG out This Week

It’s nearly that time again. Yeah, last Thursday of the month. And that means NAG time! The post detailing it over at NAG Online was up early this time.

As you can see, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II gets the cover, and should also get an award for one of the longest video game titles in recent memory. It makes Rage a great pleasure to type in comparison.
Previews include Dead Rising 2, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (there’s a review of it in the Techno Times supplement that comes with the Cape Times – it turns out it ain’t that good, just average). There’s also a look at Portal 2, Fable III, which will be hitting the PC this time too, and Killzone 3.

Reviews don’t seem to have anything special apart a feature review on StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Cracking game that. I’m playing it right now.

The Cover DVD has a demo of Kane & Lynch 2 on it (my brother all ready bought the game – I’ll have to ask him if it’s worth a try). It also says there on the contents page that there are 11 Free games, and of course the videos. All 200 of them. Well, it’s not that many – about 153 at least – but close enough.
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Source: [NAG Online]

September 2010 Issue of NAG out This Week

NAG Magazine August 2010 Issue Out This Week

Thursday the 29th of July sees the August 2010 issue of NAG magazine arrive in stores.
Worthwhile features in the mag will be previews of top games that are due out within the next several months including Mafia II, Medal of Honor, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Red Faction: Armageddon. Also, Bulletstorm gets the nod as the cover feature seeing as everybody’s raving about this new and improved FPS set to redefine the genre. Whether it does or not will have to be seen.

Reviews include that of Singularity, Raven’s latest title, as well as Alpha Protocol and Dead to Rights Retribution. Shadow! Awww!

There’s also a look at The Silver Lining: Episode 1, part one in episodic series of the fan-made project based in the same universe as the King’s Quest series. I’ve all ready read a rather scathing review of it on NAG Online, written by Tarryn Van Der Byl, NAG’s resident freaky Goth chick. It was less than complimentary as I’ve just mentioned, but then again, she likely doesn’t like a lot of things in life. I don’t know when NAG will put the game on the DVD if ever, seeing as it is supposed to be free, isn’t it? Activision wouldn’t allow them to make a profit off of it, surely. They tried to shut the project down at one point.

The Cover DVD has demos of Mass Effect 2, which came out in January all ready, as well as Sniper: Ghost Warrior – the first game which focuses heavily on sniping that I think I’ve ever taken an interest in, although there are no doubt others. No new drivers or patches, but there are the usual videos – 145 of them. This is the E3 issue you see, so plenty of footage from that event. The July issues of the past used to have all the E3 stuff but this year is different. Some extras on the DVD include music from the unreleased Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the usual odd stuff.
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Source: NAG Online

NAG Magazine August 2010 Issue Out This Week

The Dark Mod Coming to A DVD Near You… Hopefully

I decided I would put the now occasional post up here. I went over the NAG forums today and saw that the August DVD request thread is still open a month later, probably soon to be locked and the key thrown away.

Anyway, I saw an interesting post there that talked about The Dark Mod – something I’ve wanted on the NAG DVD for months now, since last October.

The poster is a member of the TDM development team, who arrived over at the NAG forums, likely thanks to one of my posts here on the blog talking about wanting the mod on the DVD.

This poster talked about putting the mod into a more accessible form – right now it’s one of those install while online things which I dislike, so I understand. But that might change seeing as they might make a regular installer that can be downloaded in its entirety and run offline, which will come bundled with some of the current maps available off the website.

Related to this, a version 1.03 is on the way, likely to be released within the next few months, which will have even more fixes and so on for the mod. And there’s also talk that after id Software releases the source code for Doom 3 or id Tech 4 engine, likely next year after Rage comes out, the mod will be looking at running standalone, without the player needing Doom 3, like it currently does. And of course there will be messing around with the graphics, features and so on too.

“I noticed thanks to referrer traffic that NAG had a few posts over the last few months asking for The Dark Mod (TDM) to be put on the DVD, and as I don't exactly follow NAG, but seeing as I'm part of the TDM dev team, I'd like to offer to put it into a more accessible form if you guys are interested. At the moment the maps are separate from the installer, and the installer requires internet access. I'd be happy to roll an installer and include a handful of the 25 odd missions (40 hours+ gameplay) that we have so far had released.

It would however most likely be left for a later date when you can spare the space and once 1.03 comes out, we should have HDR and a lot of AI/gameplay fixes. Failing that, Carmack has told us that the Tech4 source will be released shortly after Rage (he seems to have permission from Zeni, yay), so early next year we can look at a full distribution, without the need for doom3 and with increased graphical goodness and performance.

Just an offer if people are still interested.”

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Source: August DVD Request Thread [NAG Online Forums]

The Dark Mod Coming to A DVD Near You… Hopefully

NAG August Issue Cover DVD Request Thread Now Open

It’s all ready that time again. Time for the suggestions for the August issue of NAG Magazine’s Cover DVD to commence. The July one seemed to go so quickly, and it’s now down from what I can see.

Miktar Dracon gets very serious about August’s Cover DVD suggestions:

“DIRECT LINKS ONLY - if your link does not bring up a download window when clicked, you're doing it wrong, and your file has zero chance of appearing on the DVD.

Errant posts will be deleted.”

Well, I guess there is the new Version 1.02 of The Dark Mod I could suggest they put on there. Anyway, if you want anything on the August issue of the Cover DVD, then follow the link at the bottom and join up so you can post something.

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Source: NAG August DVD Request Thread [NAG Online Forums]

NAG August Issue Cover DVD Request Thread Now Open