Video Games: PC, PSP, PS3, xBox, and Wii Gaming News

After weeks of anticipation, DotA Allstars version 6.33 (not ai) has been released, a testiment to the committment of WC3:FT custom maps programmers to continuous tweaking and balancing of the game.  I’ve already downloaded it, and hope that it will be as good as its predecessors.  You can download DotA 6.33 HERE.  The changelog is as follows:

6.33 Changelog:
===============
* Added two new items
* Reworked/Improved Bristleback, Avernus and Mercurial
* Many code improvements
* New map preview picture by Artgerm
* Improved the game mode entering system. Modes are now entered on one line like “-apidsh” or “-dm -ar -sc”. You do not need to worry about the order you enter the modes in, the game will handle it or warn you (and give you another chance) if the mode is incorrect/incompatible.

* Renamed shortmode to -easymode(-em)
* Added -samehero (-sh) mode
* Reduced Lycan’s wolves’ model size a bit
* Some -dmar hero respawn optimizations
* Reworked Mekansm a bit. It now has a larger aoe and buff duration but the heal only occurs if you have no previous Mekansm buff on you (so you can’t mass spam it on a team).
* Furion’s Teleportation now creates the same casting effect on the target location.
* Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse total cost is the same, but 800 of the 900 recipe cost is now in Eul’s Scepter of Divinity.
* Last Word will only work if Silencer is not silenced
* If blue isn’t playing, the next available color will be allowed to enter the game mode.
* Restored a more functional -du mode
* Improved Viper’s base damage a bit
* Enchant’s duration when converting creeps is now increased
* Buffed Weaver’s Watcher movespeed
* Fixed some neutral creeps and beastmaster’s summons that had collision size pathing issues.
* Fixed a Timelapse casting delay
* Many tooltip fixes from Henri Langenhoven’s reports
* Improved Witch Doctor’s base damage
* Reduced Primal Roar’s manacost and cooldown
* Improved timing on Macropyre
* Reduced Lich’s attack range from 600 to 500
* Updated TDA gaming rules
* Improved the way Beast Rage works
* -csboardon/off is now -cson/off
* Voljin’s movespeed from 295 to 305
* Buffed Enchantress’ strength gain and movespeed
* Stygian Desolator’s recipe reduced from 1500 to 1400
* Fixed some icons to their proper passive versions

* New Doppelwalk icon (from Blazzu/Spankler)
* Fixed megakill bounty bonus error
* Fixed animal courier buy hotkey conflict
* Fixed an -ap -lm bug that caused the last picker to sometimes not be able to pick from the other tavern
* Fixed a bug with -random and -mm at 59sec
* Toss no longer damages wards
* Butterfly damage from 20 to 25
* Fixed a rare Nightstalker -mm bug
* Chicken autodrops the previous undroppable Black King Bar now
* Fixed a bug with radiance and Spirit Bear
* Fixed Presence of the Dark Lord and Witchcraft icons to the proper passive versions.
* New Leviathan and Avernus hero description by Terrorblaze and TheMantis
* Fixed Charge of Darkness to properly stop the charge effect when the target is purged
* -ar/-tr now properly says “randomed” instead of “chosen”
* Fixed a very old bug with Morphling and illusions
* Fixed a minor issue with -ms after -recreate
* Fixed minor casting bugs with Timewalk, Dual Breath and Wild Axes
* Fixed various hero acquisition ranges
* Fixed a bug in -mm with Terrorblade and alternate forms

Notes:
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Map preview picture by http://artgerm.deviantart.com/

Credit to switch for his new Quill Spray idea, TheMantis for his global Haunt and eva00r for the new Warpath and Spectral Dagger ideas.

Thanks to the beta testers for their long beta tests on this, especially in the code improvements phase of the tests. Extra props to the more active and dedicated testers: arthur5863, ki-hunterkiller, switch, LordDready, heftig, Infrisios, Gorzerk, iNCQRiT, obey325, Boush-Tinker, HarbingeR-2.0-, bagofpoo, demon_kane, FatherGwar, lolimhonoob, B.Nexusx6, LegendsEnd, RRC-Encephelon, staticblender, War-Mage, King_Fear, Ro-Coco, ResetX, hlfazn, unHOLYdoNUTS, RRavenajoraX23K, Warsoft

Bethesda SoftWorks has officially released their first patch for the Oblivion.  However, it is a Beta Patch, meaning that they do not recommend it unless you are having serious problems with the game already, because otherwise it might cause even more problems.  So if you’re currently fine, just wait for the official patch.  I’m also excited about the new Ultra-low graphics setting, which will definately speed things up on my sluggish PC:

New Ultra Low Quality graphic setting available under Launcher options with improved support for low end FX cards (5700 and lower). To use this setting, go to the Launcher, select Options and click Reset to Defaults to allow the auto detect to check your system.

Implemented SLI-mode optimizations on Nvidia cards, and Crossfire optimizations for ATI cards.

You can get the Oblivion Beta Patch here.

If you’re looking for information about the WoW 1.11 patch, please go here to download!

Gaming Steve, “the man with the game information”, has the latest on Blizzard’s intent to greatly improve Battlegrounds, World of Warcraft’s PvP mode. The first update is expected in patch 1.12 or 1.13, and “will effectively link 16 realms per Battleground server, in turn speeding up queues and opening up the playing field for inter-realm action”.

Joystiq reports that “Battlegrounds will undergo its biggest makeover with the release of The Burning Crusade expansion. Players can look forward to features like worldwide rankings, tournaments, and ladders when the expansion drops later this year”.