Recently it seems that Electronic Arts has been fighting to overcome its ‘worst company ever’ reputation among gamers. They’ve recently been running two programs, Game Time and On the House, in which it’s just giving away games to players provided they want to download it over Origin.

Today its the turn of Bejeweled 3, a sequel game to the gem-matching classic. Match 3 (or was it 4?) of the same colour, get combos, power gems can clear areas, etc etc. It’s been a while since I played a Bejeweled game, but it is a decent way to consume an hour or less sometimes. When you’re in the mood. The third one comes with eight game modes so there’s a choice of ways to do it too.

Of course, it’s not forever, and this On the House deal ends on October 28th. So if you want it… you’ve got more than a month to go grab it. If you’re interested that is.

Hearthstone as a game has been a runaway success for Blizzard. The combination of simple-to-pick-up, difficult-to-master rules; cards using characters and concepts from their long-running World of Warcraft franchise and the free-to-play model that doesn’t force its real-money options onto the player has meant that the game has a far reach. So far in fact that recently the servers have notched up their 20 millionth player.

In a tweet Blizzard said “Thank you all for joining us in #Hearthstone! We’re going to need a bigger tavern!” The success of the game was helped a lot by the release of its first single–layer expansion Curse of Naxxramas, something I very much enjoyed playing and gave Heathstone its most played week ever during its first few weeks.

Here’s to all 20 million players and let’s hope 50 million isn’t too far off! 😛

The Waste Land by Fledermaus is a retro inspired Metroidvania style game. Of course, that phrase gets thrown around a lot these days, but in the case of The Waste Land I find it to be a bit more fitting. Fledermaus has managed to craft a loving tribute to the long ago days of 16 bit platformers, but one that isn’t without some problems of its own.

The Waste Land is inspired by the poem of the same name, written by T.S. Elliot in 1922. After a short tutorial teaching you the basics of movement and combat, you are placed into the shoes of a king who spends his days in luxury, or on long hunting trips. Its one such hunting trip that introduces you to the world of The Waste Land. Setting out, you encounter a mysterious beast in the woods. Slaying it causes the earth to shake. As you return to camp, you find it destroyed and see a strange man floating nearby. This sage tells you that you have destroyed the balance of the world and that you must restore it. Its here that you first get a taste of the King’s character. And he’s a jerk. Rarely have I come across a more unlikable character in fiction, but the King pretty much takes the cake. Shallow, petty and concerned only with his own gain its totally impossible to love him. The King does grow across the course of the game as you venture to the seven continents in the world battling twisted bosses and trying to put right your wrongs.

Fortuantely, the gameplay is another matter. To save the land from evil, you must venture to several temples, obtaining new and better weapons as you go. Combat feels fluid even on keyboard, thanks to some smart controls. Sword and bow and arrow will be your primary weapon, and each has distinct advantages and disadvantages. A bow allows you to stay at a safe distance, but can take longer to down foes while the sword dishes out the punishment but also puts you within arms reach of the monsters. Choosing how to fight is an important part of the game. As is learning to read it’s map. There is almost no direction in the game, save cryptic hints from the sage when you encounter him about the world. The Waste Land is truly a game that wants you to explore, and only walls you off from areas until you have the gear needed to access them. An early example is the double jump, which allowed me to reach ledges barring my way into the next area.Fire arrows allow you to kill enemies from afar with ease, explosive arrows let you demolish obstacles in your path and access new areas. The bosses in the game are twisted, huge and challenging, ranging from a whale….thing, to a gigantic hornet.

All in all, The Waste Land feels like a smart tribute to old school Metroid and Castlevania games. Fledermaus has done a great job placing you into a world that feels alive and in true peril. Even if the main character is a jerk. Aside from a few issues finding my way early on, I enjoyed my time playing through this game. If you’re a fan of old school adventure and hack and slash exploration, pick it up on Steam.

The Waste Land gets a 7.5 out of 10.

The Waste Land is available for purchase on Steam

Watch the video review:

If you’ve ever hung out in the Twitch chat of even a moderately popular streamer, you’ll have realised what a madhouse it can sometimes be in the chats. Those without a good modbot, moderators or an engaged slowmode can quickly become unreadable. Now there’s a new hazard that’s going around, that Twitch Support have warned users about in their tweets.

Security PSA: Do not click the “csgoprize” link in chat. This is a phishing attempt to install malware and compromise your Steam account.^JM

— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) September 12, 2014

The hazard, which is a chatbot that asks users to follow a link for the chance to win CS:GO items in-game. It leads to a site that asks for the user’s name, e-mail and permission to publish their name. Of course it does nothing of the sort, instead installing malicious software that compromises the user’s Steam account, taking screens, adding friends, placing items from the user’s account onto the market at reduced prices and being able to purchase other items and trade them. The point of the software is to use the victim’s common items to gain enough points to buy rarer items and then trade them over to another recently added ‘friend’ Steam account as well as empty the victim’s account of anything else of value.

The ruse uses the victim’s own machine to avoid getting caught by Steam’s own ‘new machine’ security features that prevents other such methods of accomplishing the same results and Twitch are currently working to block out the chatbots and protect against the malicious links.

With the acquisition of Mojang by Microsoft, many have questions and concerns about the future of Minecraft. Some people are even downright hysterical. I fear we may have to lock PredictedCyborg in a padded room for a while. (Just kidding Cy. But seriously, the padded room is the third door on the left past the breakroom.)

The staff here at Sanitarium.FM represents a wide range of gaming tastes and attitudes, so I’ve gathered them all up – sometimes with a cattle prod – to get their opinions on Mojang joining Microsoft.

Digmbot – Station Manager, IGS Host, Loves Putting TNT In Your Basement

A lot of people think that this might be the end of Minecraft as we know it. However, Microsoft and Mojang have both said that Minecraft will continue on all platforms – PC, Android, iOS, Xbox and PlayStation. Of course, this makes perfect sense. Restricting the reach of a game as popular as Minecraft would literally be a case of killing the Golden Goose. I don’t see Microsoft doing that after dropping $2.5 billion dollars to acquire the studio. What does worry me is what else Mojang will be asked to do. Microsoft will clearly want the studio to make other games at some point, and to date Mojang has really only done work on Minecraft. There is also the specter of microtransactions. While I doubt that Microsoft could implement this in the PC version due to the open nature of that community, its already a thing on the console versions with various themed skin packs. I don’t see that ending anytime soon. And, the recent implosion of Bukkit already had implications for the mod community that makes Minecraft so versatile. Will Microsoft continue to allow that extensive community to do what it does so well, or will they try to lock the game down more? Only time will tell.

Bottom line: I would have preferred for Mojang to remain independent. But this also frees up Notch to pursue other projects. As Mojang said: He won’t be working on anything Minecraft related, but it will probably be cool.

Thats enough for me for now.

PredictedCyborg – DJ, Writer, IGS Host, Nyan Cat

I am… not sure if I’m honest. As alluded to above at first I wasn’t a fan of the news, but after a breather… well, I’m still not a fan but I can certainly see how this could BENEFIT Minecraft and Mojang.

As long as the community’s mod-making isn’t restricted and Minecraft itself becomes loaded with “Buy this!” stuff we could be fine. Personally I will choose to carry on as I have done previously UNTIL Microsoft do something that affects the reasons I enjoy Minecraft.

I originally got Minecraft during my university days, purely because I really wanted to use the Creative option to make a floating island with a windmill on it. True story. After I’d made it though I asked myself “What do I do now?” and then dived right in. I love modpacks, I love modded survival, I love making bases out of caverns. That is the spirit of Minecraft for me and it’s different for every player of the game. I hope that Microsoft don’t try to narrow that down in any way.

At least for now the other versions and the Mojang staff we know via Twitter are staying as they are. In future, who knows? We need to watch and see.

Lonesamurai – Station Owner, Top Ten Show Host, Big Kahuna

So…   Microsoft bought Mojang?   I’m actually not surprised by this.

Minecraft has now taken the crown from World of Warcraft of highest selling video game ever (per unit).   And annoyingly, as a proud member of the PC Master Race, Minecraft is the highest selling game on XBox Live…   Both on 360 and soon, XBox One.

Yes, it sells well on Playstation too, but, unlike Microsoft, Sony does NOT have their own game studios.

Yeah ok, people are going to shout about RARE, and yes, I miss Conkers as well (actually I don’t), but RARE is a different case.   ALL the staff from RARE left when Microsoft bought them, whereas only the senior team are leaving Mojang so far, the team of grunts behind Minecraft and Scrolls is staying- THIS is what Microsoft are buying and its pretty shrewd of them.

Ok, we hope that this only means Minecraft will carry on growing and, in my own opinion, I hope we get the in house version of CraftBukkit we’re now waiting for, but I actually suspect MS are looking to use the team and the game engine for other projects in the future too.

Either way, it’s an interesting time.

Crimsonshade- Server Wizard, Orderlybot Wrangler, MC Server Admin-because-no-one-else-bothered-to-learn-how

People on Twitter keep on making jokes comparing this to what happened with Rare. I can understand why. In the Nintendo 64 era, Rare Games LLC was extremely talented and made some of the best videogames ever to grace Nintendo consoles, to the point Nintendo eventually considered them officially “second-party developers”. Then Microsoft bought them out and all the talent went to waste. “History repeats itself”, everyone says – and given Microsoft’s track record, is it any wonder people worry about Microsoft potentially ruining Minecraft?

The thing is though, way back in the 90s Microsoft had a slogan for Windows: “What would you like to do today?”. Though they don’t use it any more, the slogan captured the focus of Windows at that time: Offering a system which was simple, customisable and allowed the majority of people to do whatever they could put their mind to. The same vision fuels Minecraft – at its heart, Minecraft is a glorified sandbox rather than an actual “game”; but therein lies its appeal – with its simple construction methods and tools; straightforward gameplay; and easy-to-understand rules regarding monster spawning, survival, life and death, Minecraft offers a huge amount of creativity with relatively few limitations, allowing people to do whatever their imagination takes them – even to the extent that people have built their own storylines, or even whole new games within it.

Pairing Minecraft’s customisability with Microsoft’s “easy for everyone” approach to Windows, therefore, actually makes a ton of sense and could prove to be a clever strategy for Microsoft. Plus, with Microsoft attempting to converge Windows for PC, Windows for Tablets and Windows Phone – which as of yet doesn’t HAVE a Minecraft port – into one single ecosystem means soon enough, Minecraft will be playable on any device wherever you may be – and who better to spearhead this approach than Microsoft itself? Nevertheless, one DOES hope Microsoft will not change Minecraft beyond recognition from the game it is now; and given the opportunities now open to Microsoft, one also hopes they do not resort to microtransactions or sneaky tactics to spin more money out of their new acquisition either… time will tell.

Thay – Indie Game Blogger, Gamer, Quietly Doing Her Thing

To tell you the truth I’m not quite sure what to think on the news of Microsoft buying Mojang. Honestly I haven’t really played much of the game recently. I definitely don’t play it as much as i used to. But i do love the game and had some wonderful times playing it and I’ve met some awesome people playing it. I hope Microsoft realizes the importance of the community in Minecraft, and hopefully they don’t mess something up that makes people mad.

Personally I kind of expected this to happen sooner or later considering Notch’s attitude  toward Minecraft in recent years. I hope he and the other founders who are leaving the company go on to do what they love and hopefully we will get some cool games out of it 😉

If i had any worry about the buyout it would be Microsoft’s view on people making money off their games. While I don’t personally post videos on Minecraft i know plenty of people who do. Microsoft’s current Terms of Use for games content clearly state that you can post videos or other content of their games but cannot make money off advertising from it. This is quite the opposite of Mojang’s view. They encouraged people to make videos of Minecraft and allowed people to make money off their game this way. It’s the reason Minecraft got so big. Well hopefully Minecraft will stay exempt from Microsoft’s current terms of use for gaming content.

Personally I think if Microsoft was smart about it, they will let Mojang continue to run its own way. And hopefully something cool comes out of this.

Novindus – DJ, eSports Writer, (#BlameNovindus)
Personally I do not know what to think about this change, minecraft has never been hugely important to me and frankly I don’t think it ever will be. I personally dabble in Minecraft and I respect the reasoning behind the sale. Microsoft’s acquisitions paint an interesting picture and a rough path to this day and it will always be that way in my opinion. So if Microsoft leave Mojang to do their thing and simply supplement their staff and budget then I’m all for this change, if not then it is not a huge loss to me. Personally I just want to see people satisfied and positive about the change instead of grabbing their pitch forks before the winds have risen.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!