If you’ve ever touched a mouse and keyboard to game, chances are you’ve experienced the glory that is Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo II, and perhaps even worked the grind in its expansion, Lord of Destruction. With Diablo III on the horizon (if you can call “sometime in 2011″ a horizon), I thought it would be appropriate to revisit Tristram (after a ten-year hiatus) and see how our old buddies are faring.

Released in June of 2000, Diablo II has been a game I come back to about once every three years or so. Things have changed significantly since I last played it. With the latest patches (dating from 2003 up to 2010), your stash has increased its size, you can now reset your stat and skill points once after completing the first quest, and there are a host of new bosses and quests have been added to the online game.

In some areas, the difficulty has been lessened. High runes now drop with increased frequency, the lesser enemies seem to be more balanced, and character skills seem more powerful in most instances. Likewise, in some areas, difficulty seems to have been ramped up. Some enemies (bosses especially) are a lot stronger than in the first few iterations of the game and rare items seem to drop with less frequency.

In most aspects, however, the game feels like the same classic that I played years ago. Still fun and engaging, the only thing that has changed is that the amount of online players has seemed to taper off. It’s only to be expected as the game is a decade old, after all. The only gripe I could find with that is that now I’ve had to put up with an unusually large amount of spammers who love to advertise their Geocities-era Diablo II websites and annoy you by filling your entire screen with text as you’re fighting a boss for the third time.

Fans of the game who haven’t played in many years will no doubt enjoy getting back into their old war-boots and slaying some demons again. For folks who haven’t had the pleasure of playing Diablo II (they exist?), Diablo II, the expansion and the original Diablo can be had for a paltry 40 bucks at most stores. And since Diablo III is still on the horizon (read: a loooooong way off), Diablo II and Lord of Destruction should keep you waiting with baited breath.

It seems to me as though, for a while, there was a period of time for video games which I like to refer to as the Golden Age. Brilliant games were being released regularly, and game developers didn’t seem to be afraid of taking risks in order to realize their visions.

The Golden Age of games began in 1986 with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System, and ended in 1999 with the discontinuation of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This was the time when computer technology was beginning to explode, and with it, new innovations kept popping up. This is in stark contrast to the seventies or the early-eighties, when games were at their most basic, and even more so to the 2000s, when the only general improvements in games were graphics and physics.

In the Golden Age, it was about creating an experience using the tools given to you. It was about improvising with art, sound and gameplay. It was about creating new and fun concepts, and experimenting with old ideas. Compare this to the amount of copycat sandbox-style games have been released in the past few years or the plethora of first (and third)-person-shooters that have flooded the market that don’t do anything to enhance the genre.

On the NES, you had games like Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Mega Man III, Castlevania II and Bionic Commando, just to name a few. On the Genesis, you had Sonic & Knuckles, Toe Jam & Earl, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition and Phantasy Star II among others. The Super Nintendo carried with it games like Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III/VI, Earthbound, Contra III: The Alien Wars and Uniracers. All of these games had limited resources in the way of technology, yet were still able to create for the player an experience that clearly demonstrated the developers’ abilities to put out a game without relying on technology as a crutch

Unfortunately, nowadays developers spend a large chunk of their time on graphics and realism, and rarely take risks. It’s only so often that we get titles like Little Big Planet or Wii Fit or Rock Band that really push the envelope of what a genre or even a game should be. If developers would work on their games as games instead of as revenue streams, we may yet see another golden age.

You may have heard that Microsoft has released a new Xbox. Some call it the Xbox 360 “Slim”, while others call it the Xbox 360 S; however, as all older versions are being discontinued, this “new” Xbox simply bears the name of its predecessor on its packaging: the Xbox 360.

The knowledge of the redesign of the older Xbox 360 was officially released on June 14, 2010, the same day it became available in US stores. (This is not really much advanced notice these days, though rumors had been circulating for a while anyway.) This model replaces the Xbox 360 Elite, and will cost $300 for the 250 GB model, for starters at least. So, what makes this new Xbox worth our while?

The “Xbox 360 S” is smaller than all of the previous models and has a much sleeker design (hence its name). This model is also said to be much quieter that the previous models, running at a mere “whisper,” perfect for watching a movie without sound interference. A redesign of the infrastructure is said to allow 30% more space on the motherboards than the most recent Xbox 360. It also boasts five USB 2.0 ports, while the older version only had three. The official Xbox Web site boasts “Oh, and don’t forget it comes ready for Kinect right out of the box.” Additionally, Wi-Fi is built into the system. Certainly, the 250 GB storage has something to do with the steep price. This size is perfect storing HD movies, games, and music. This internal hard drive is replaceable, but it is not compatible with other models of the Xbox 360. It has been said that a cheaper model will soon be available with less memory.

The release of this new model also signifies the discontinuation of all older models. If you don’t need the smaller physical size, the quieter running sounds, and the larger memory that this newer model offers, you might considering going out to buy any of the older models, which have been seeing drastic price cuts in recent times. However, if you do indeed want the benefits of this newer model, it seems to be quite worth the $300.

Sick of sequels? Alan Wake might be just the game to satisfy your cravings for something new and original. Inspired by Twin Peaks, 24, The X-Files, and Stephen King, Alan Wake is a single-player action video game, classified under the “psychological thriller” genre, developed by Remedy Entertainment, whose long-delayed release was well worth the wait.

Though May 18 marks the official American release of Alan Wake on the Xbox 360, critics have already had a chance to review the game and have come to the general consensus that it is indeed a superb game. On Gamespot.com it earns a fairly high 8.5, with a critic score of 8.4 and a user score of 8.8 (presumably from the users in Europe, where the release date was May 14).

In this video game, you take on the role of Alan Wake, a best-selling author of suspense novels. Wake has had a writer’s block for over two years and his wife, Alice, tries to solve this by bringing him to what everyone thought was the peaceful Bright Falls, Washington. However, Alice disappears, and the words of a horrifying novel that he can’t even remember writing seem to be happening verbatim. How can he (or rather, you) get out of this trap? Will you keep this story that has come to life from taking your own? Can you solve this puzzle?

Alan Wake is currently on the expensive side for a video game, a single-player video game at that. At a whopping $80, you might want to consider just how much you will get out of this game. I f you’re not all that into murder mysteries and playing games on your own, I would leave this one on the shelf and wait for something else. Is it worth it? You can often get two decent games for the price of this one. If you can find some way to not pay the sticker price for this game, it is a wonderful psychological thriller for you to check out. That way, if you love it, you can invest in the sequels that are sure to follow. Otherwise, you can confidently ignore their releases!

You might recognize the name Tom Clancy. He’s an American author, well-known for his tales of espionage and military science but also creates story-lines for video games. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, released on April 13, 2010, is the sixth “episode” in the series which, in addition to the original, includes Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, Essentials, and Double Agent. They are all based on Clancy’s Splinter Cell novels written under the name of David Michaels.

The game is classified as stealth and action. Just as one might expect from these genres, players must use stealth to ambush their enemies. Ability to succeed depends greatly on hand-eye coordination and reaction time. What sets one game apart from another is the story line. In Conviction, the protagonist Sam seeks the killer of his daughter (who was killed in the preceding game, Double Agent, in a hit-and-run). The National Security Agency has abandoned him, thus he must do the job on his own. It’s up to him (or you, rather) to discover the person who killed his daughter.

Conviction has received positive ratings from most critics, though the scores aren’t as high as some of the other recent releases such as Mass Effect 2 or Assassin’s Creed II. The executions in the game are “thrilling” and “satisfying,” what many players look for in this sort of action game. Gamespot summarizes them as “a total rush.” Conviction also has received much praise for its soundtrack, which enhances a player’s experience of the game rather than overpowering it, as many stealth soundtracks do.

On the other hand, some reviewers complain that the campaign is too quick, that there are too many bullets compared to the older game, which were known for their elaborate stealth campaigns. The short campaign doesn’t seem to offer as much challenge as the Splinter Cell games have offered in the past. Some even call it the “worst in the series.”

Recommendation: Save a few bucks by renting the game instead of making the full purchase. It’s fun, but short enough so that you can get the full experience without actually owning it.

Have you heard of the new PlayStation Move motion controller? Can you say, “Wii remote copycat”? Just look at the picture.  Adding insult to injury, the only differences, in my opinion, make it quite hideous. Yet, for some reason, I can’t make up my mind whether I’m for or against this new product. It’s an odd dilemma.

Two major things that I have against it:

• The ball on top. Some call it a “dynamic color changing sphere.” It’s supposed to change and represent whatever happens in the game. Perhaps red for mistakes and green for successes. Cute? Maybe. Necessary? No. I’d prefer to call it “PS3′s desperate attempt to match the Wii remote.” Maybe I’m just too comfortable with the appearance of the Wii remotes, but this ball on top just looks silly.
• The fact that the Wii exists.

Despite those two things being enough to sour my opinion of this product, I find many counter arguments to both. As far as the sphere goes, it is understandable that they wanted to add something that made this controller different from the Wii remote. I’d imagine Sony would receive many more complaints if they hadn’t done something that set it apart from the Wii remote. Also, while it seems quite silly looking, I can imagine that if this had been the design of the Wii remote, and the Wii remote had been the design of Sony’s motion controller, we would have thought that the “new” motion controller looked quite bare. It’s a matter of familiarity.

Also, it’s fair and expected that another company will try to bring out another product like the Wii remotes. We can’t let them have a monopoly, now can we? Though, as far as I can tell, this device won’t be making a run on the Wii remote based on cost, especially since there aren’t enough games to attract Wii users to switch to PS3 just for this.

I’ve heard that it performs extremely well, with extreme accuracy and without noticeable lag time. To those who buy it, feedback would be great. I’m quite curious.

Ever heard of a video game with character? I don’t mean with characters, I mean with character, personality. If there ever was one, it’s Mass Effect 2, though that’s not to say it doesn’t have characters—there are plenty of those, too.

Following what seems to be a growing (and positive) trend for the videos games that have been released recently, the graphics in Mass Effect 2, an action role-playing video game, are simply stupendous. An intriguing balance of shadows and lights in Mass Effect 2 add a very sinister undertone to the gameplay. Gamespot.com remarks that it has, “Fantastic art design with a strong sense of identity.”

Mass Effect 2 has earned an extremely high critic score of 9.6/10, which represents the average of 54 professional critics. The user rating is also quite lofty, at a solid 9.4/10. You can compare these ratings to Call of Duty 4‘s critic rating of 9.2 and user rating of 9.1. Both received a GameSpot score of 9.0.

The release of Mass Effect 2 actually had been announced for the year 2009, but it ended up hitting stores on January 26th of this year. Gamers probably should be happy about this last release because it means that the developers, BioWare, took the time to work out some extra kinks. It’s likely to stay near the top of the bestseller’s list for video games this year. In its first week it sold many more copies than its predecessor. Time Magazine actually featured Mass Effect 2 during the week of January 22′s “The Short List of Things to Do.” In a quick review they remarked, ” … it’s the Avatar of video games — except it’s better written.”

Mass Effect 2 has been rated M for mature. At most stores, it currently costs the typical $60 that most new releases seem to be going for. While I can’t help feeling like $60 is pricey for any video game, there’s no doubt that this is the best quality video game that you will be able to find for this type of money. If you’ve been looking for an action-packed, role-playing game with original characters and awesome graphics, you’ll find it all in Mass Effect 2.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run your own boutique? Try Style Savvy, a Nintendo DS game in which you play the “stylist” as you assist virtual customers and help them choose fashionable clothes and accessories. This simulated game is more about tapping into your creativity. It is not the kind of game for those looking for a challenge.

You’re living in a large city, and you start out working in someone else’s boutique. Grace manages Strata, one of the city’s best boutiques, and she works as your mentor throughout the game. Renee is your co-worker, and while she is helpful, she is competition. Dominic is a businessman who helps you launch and run your own shop. Godfrey is his assistant and sometimes the middleman as you have to go through him to get to Dominic. Rococo is a fashion expert who runs the fashion shows that you will compete in to win prizes and prestige. You will meet other characters in the game that while they are not that significant at helping you, they are sometimes important. Remember always to pay close attention to the key figures above as they really help you throughout the game.

The aim of the game is running a shop and selecting a certain item to keep the customers happy. You will get a lot of customers, each of whom has her own distinct personality and style. Pay attention to each customer’s stats and what they are wearing as it will help you assist them in the game. Most of the time it’s easy to help them select their item du jour (dresses, sweater, pants, etc.), but sometimes it’s not. With each customer you get three chances to select an item that she likes. If in the end, you cannot please her, rest assured that she is pleasant and probably will come back again. The key to success in this game is to frequently stock your shop with a variety of clothes and accessories from various brands. Go frequently to the Buyer’s Center to stock up on a fresh variety of clothes for everyone. Mind your budget, and don’t go over the limit.

Are you ready for Style Savvy?

So, you undoubtedly have heard of Guitar Hero, the ultimate name among rhythm video games, but what about Activision’s newest release: DJ Hero?

“DJ Hero? Will it teach me how to be a real DJ?” Just about as much as guitar hero taught you how to play a real guitar. (It didn’t.)

“But is it fun?” Absolutely.

Like any good rhythm game, DJ Hero truly draws a player into the music. It offers several difficulty levels that allows players to satisfy their own thirst for a challenge. There are three buttons on the spin platter than you tap when the notes come across the bar at the bottom of the screen like Guitar Hero. Holding a button down and moving the platter back and forth “scratches” the record so that you make that “wikka wikka” sound everyone makes when they pretend to DJ. In harder levels you will have to perform cross fades, and the scratches will have to be made in a certain direction. Things can get quite crazy, but again, that aspect of the game is in your control.

Unfortunately, the tracks for DJ Hero are pre-mixed. While you won’t hear any of the tracks outside of the game (they were created by real DJs specifically for this game), aside from some minor sound effects, you won’t be mixing your own tracks either. This might be disappointing to some who were expecting to unleash a bit of turntable-creativity with this game, but let’s consider the fact that you’ll be spinning a plastic turntable. Could you really be making serious mixes with this equipment? We all should have known that this would not be an option, especially in this game’s debut. How else are they going to get us to spend more money later?

The biggest drawback for DJ Hero is simply its cost. A player could buy two full-price games for the cost of DJ Hero; it currently sells for around $90 to $100. In other words, DJ Hero is a ton of fun, but only if you have the money for it.

Do you remember the days when Nintendos and Playstations were used for gaming and gaming only? Well, now game consoles are not sufficient enough if that is all that they can do. No, if all something can do is be used to play a game, then that something will not be able to survive in today’s competitive world.

We now have Sony PlayStations that can see Weather Channel updates, tune into BBC shows, and even stream Netflix movies and shows. Video game consoles no longer are focusing on being the best gaming device, but they are focusing on the “video” part of the term “video game console.” Already the 20 million monthly members of Xbox Live can surf Facebook, browse for online movies and television show episodes. And yes, Xbox customers also can watch Netflix if they pay for the service.

Microsoft has decided to go all out. For instance, they apparently have held in-depth talks about an ESPN programming deal with the Walt Disney Company. What they are planning on doing is making it a per-subscriber fee in which ESPN would provide live streams of sporting events. Are you familiar with the high-speed Internet service called ESPN 360? Well, Microsoft and ESPN are hoping to do something along the same lines as that service.  Microsoft wants their subscription gaming service, Xbox Live, to be thought of as a cable channel rather than just a gaming service. They even produced shows for its users! You may have heard of it; it is called “1 vs. 100,” an interactive version of a game show that was on NBC. They now are in the process of making the second season of the show.

Video game consoles have become a method to play video games, a web search tool, DVD players, and more. Many are meant to go online and to connect your living room to another living room. According to the consulting firm Deloitte, nearly 60 percent of American homes have at least one console now; it is no wonder why companies like Microsoft are trying to turn their consoles into the end-all-be-all device!