Enter free-to-play games. Though free-to-play isn’t an entirely new business model—in fact, it originated in early MMOs often targeted towards children and casual gamers, such as Neopets and MapleStory —its implementation is spreading. Rather than asking for an expensive sum upfront, as the traditional sales model does, free-to-play games are free but include advertisements, microtransactions, or in-game purchases that expand the players’ experience, such as League of Legends ‘ additional champions or Hearthstone ‘s card pa

Shaco is, by far, the most annoying champion in all of League of Legends . He can go invisible and jump a distance with the same move. He can throw daggers that slow you. He does more damage to you when your back is turned to him. He places invisible jack-in-the-box traps that fear your character, laugh and damage you. His ultimate ability creates a clone that he can independently control. All the while, he constantly laughs as he executes his abilities. Again, like Teemo, he doesn’t synergize well with other champions on his team. His main contribution is that he can tilt the opposing team and throw them off their rhythm, but if they keep their composure, he becomes a non-factor in the late-moba game skins. Just pray to never face him in Ultra Rapid Fire, where his annoyance is on negligible coold

Some interesting quick observations: Dwayne Johnson’s name keeps popping up, there are six hotly anticipated movies in March, before the traditional summer blockbuster season even begins, and there are more DC branded and Marvel Studios movies in theaters than any other y

The story and characters audiences know and love come to spectacular life in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic “Beauty and the Beast,” a stunning, cinematic event celebrating one of the most beloved tales ever told. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a Beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s father; Josh Gad as Le Fou, Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Ewan McGregor as Lumière, the candelabra; Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Audra McDonald as Madame De Garderobe, the wardrobe; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, the feather duster; Hattie Morahan as the enchantress; and Nathan Mack as Chip, the teacup; with Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Po

Many free-to-play games have in-game currency that can be purchased with real money, giving those who are willing to shell out actual money a reward. That’s all well and good, but many gamers feel it sets the stage for unbalanced play, as people willing to spend real cash may get better weapons or more play time to level

Arizona State took home top notch gaming systems for their runner-up finish. Heroes of the Storm may still be in beta until June, but its appearance on national television last night got the eSports scene some of the best mainstream exposure its had

With yet another character with the ability to transport his teammates, you may start to see a pattern develop. While Tahm Kench’s ultimate ability works a lot like Ryze’s, except for a maximum of one other ally, it’s not his ultimate that puts him higher on this list. It’s mostly that he can ingest an ally and run around with them before spitting them back out. While this can be a very helpful mechanic to a team and many a champion’s life has been saved by it, it can also be a tool for great evil. Pro-tip, don’t be toxic to a Tahm on your team. They have too much power over you, should you tilt them. A Tahm Kench who has abandoned trying to win can actively decide how your game will play out as well. You shouldn’t rage against your own team anyway, but at the very least, keep the Kench ha

Legend of Solgard broadened my definition of what a mobile game could be; it took my expectations of free-to-play games and provided something much grander. While imperfect and likely inaccessible to the most casual of players, Legend of Solgard is an exciting step forward for not only mid-core titles but mobile titles as a wh

There was a time, when video game culture was still in its infancy, where it seemed every morning talk show had a segment about being appalled at video game violence. The platform was still not well understood, especially by those who had no interest in engaging in playing video games. Naturally, many mothers and political groups assumed that the violent themes and images in video games would encourage violent tendencies in those who played them. Their premise was ridiculous and repeatedly proven to be unfounded, but I think that is because they were looking at it the wrong way. It is not violent themes that encouraged hatred, the culprits were frustrating design and multiplayer-versus. There is a consensus on what the most toxic video game communities are. Something you’ll notice is that almost all these communities are multiplayer team game focused and League of Legends is somewhere on everybody’s l