12 Awesome Gifts for Your Favorite Blizzard Fan

RISK: Starcraft Collector's Edition Board Game is a uniquely Blizzard take on the classic strategy game. Just like in the video game, players must choose between the Terrans, Protoss or Zerg and then head into battle in an attempt to gain control of the Koprulu Sector. While base-building in Starcraft the video game can get complicated at times, this board game follows traditional RISK rules, meaning anyone ages 10 and up can jump right in. The Starcraft theme touches every part of this game, including the highly-detailed custom playing pie And yeah, I know these $60, AAA titles still have some greed to work through (like $10 DLC for Titanfall that's just three maps), but it's all manageable, and Dota 2 is still the only game to do free to play right. Beyond Dota 2, The Last of Us just had a completely free multiplayer map pack released for it. It can be done. All gamers want is a model that fosters mutually and equally beneficial purchasing. Give it to them. Mario is not only a staple in video game history; he is THE pinnacle of the industry. His games have defined what it means to be a video game. But guess what? I can make a video game too! Super Mario Maker is a phenomenal concept that allows fans to bring to life their very own versions of the plumber’s classic adventures. I’ve had tons of fun just imagining my own Mario levels and feeling like a real developer at Nintendo. If only they could see my creations…sigh. Whatever, Super Mario Maker is in fact a fantastic game despite all the extremely hard user-created levels that I’ve skipped over. Although some cinematic trailers aren't any kind of indicator of what a game will be like, a few companies have mastered the art of using trailers to capture the tone and mood of an upcoming project. But when n the realm of CG cinematic trailers, nobody does it better than Blizza I saved the best for last on this list. While many folks pointed out Nintendo’s lack of original titles, Splatoon made a splatastic debut and <a href="https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_user.php?userid=13191204">setiathome.berkeley.edu</a>; made up for the last few decades. The cute, colorful, simple online shooter is a friendly way to introduce players to the genre. Clever weapon designs and fresh gear to wear makes Splatoon a uniquely designed game. It’s not serious or violent like many others, which appeals to players of all ages. Friends, parents, kids and squids can all enjoy this game together and not have to yell or scream about campers. Inking the entire level and fending off the other team is a big task, but Nintendo made it enjoyable. Plus, you might run into a Squid Party and those are always fun to mess with. Splatoon is my choice for best game of 2015. Blizzard Entertainment has had a pretty successful 2016, starting with Overwatch releasing to stellar reviews on its way to becoming the next big thing in eSports. Hearthstone has again seen multiple popular updates this year, ranging from the dark Old Gods expansion to the more fun-filled Karazhan adventure . Even the old flagship World of Warcraft is experiencing a bit of a return to glory, with the nostalgia-filled Legion expansion breathing new life into the game after the disaster on Draen I admit that Dota 2 has the benefit of an established fan base unmatched by almost any free-to-play game (League of Legends excluded). Not many games have fans who are willing to pay for something that doesn't benefit them in any way. Taking that into account, though, there still is no good excuse for free-to-play micro-transactions that benefit the company more than the player. Honestly, the solution is just to make your game cost money. Remember that? When games cost a flat fee for the entire thing? This was a largely successful model, and the only reason I can see for the shift is pure greed, especially by a company like EA that already has boatloads of money to roll in. Another strategy game I played on my list is SteamWorld Heist and it’s a winner for me. Understanding the gameplay is simple and the story jumped right into the action. Exploring randomly generated ships and shooting it out with robots makes every stop along the way a true challenge. The old west aesthetic and steam-powered environment in SteamWorld Heist is pulled off much better than Wild Wild West. It’s almost the complete opposite of SteamWorld Dig but you could say SteamWorld Heist is a more grown-up version in the series. It’s a game to both kill time and robots with. That would be like the U.S. claiming it isn't a militarily focused nation, because they spend a relatively small percentage of its GDP on military. This overlooks the fact that the U.S. is perhaps the richest nation in the world, meaning that that small percentage is more than the next 30 or so developed countries combined. So how much money do free-to-play games make off micro-transactions? I don't know. But I know it's more than enough to stay in business, it's more than enough to make PopCap not even consider bringing Plants vs. Zombies 2 to any other platform besides mobile , and it's more than enough to entice several other games to go free-to-play, or at least to use micro-transactions.