The weekend is here. Which means it's time to throw off the shackles of tedium and devote our time and energy to our pixelated passions. Here's what we're going to be playing over the weekend. Do let us know what you'll be up-to in the comments.
Tim - World of Warcraft, StarCraft 2
My wife's away, so I'm being babysat by Blizzard. On the one hand, after a great raid with the PC Gamer WoW guild, I'm back on the WoW crack. I'd like to carve out some time for a raid on Sunday night, and a few heroics before then. Meanwhile, Owen and I launched ourselves back into Starcraft 2 last night, in 2v2 games. Yeah, we're only Bronze. But we're HIGH LEVEL BRONZE. The goal is to get our shiny top 25 Bronze wings by the end of the weekend.
But there's a complication.
Saturday night belongs to this
Owen - StarCraft 2
I can go for a few weeks without playing Starcraft 2 multiplayer. I probably won't even miss it. In that time I'll expand my gaming horizons by indulging in multiple genres and indie delights.
Then someone tempts me in. I'll grudgingly start a game and mutter build orders to myself as I try to sharpen up. Then I'll push out with a force, and the adrenaline will kick in. I will re-declare Starcraft the best thing ever.
That happened last night so, unless Valve send us an extra special early treat, I'll be creating bio balls until the early hours.
Tom S - Magicka Vietnam
This weekend I'll be obliterating my friends with napalm air strikes in Magicka Vietnam. Friendly fire is an inevitable side effect of sharing the screen with three other machine gun toting wizards, any one of whom can call down an apocalyptic storm of meteors at a moment's notice.
If you give your friends warning, they can throw up a golden dome of protection to shield themselves from the boulders. The trouble is, it's easy always easy to hear others above the sound of lasers and exploding goblins. Sometimes it's almost as though they're not telling you on purpose. That's when the paranoia starts.
Given my love of the napalm air strike. I might not have any friends left by Monday.
Josh - League of Legends
"Oh Josh, I bet I could beat you 1v1 as Nocturne in League of Legends." More foolish words have never been spoken, Lucas Sullivan. Our pompous intern challenged me to a 1v1 match in League of Legends this weekend, claiming that he could play my current favorite champion, Nocturne, better than I could. Lucas, you will be crushed thoroughly, and I will hear the lamentation of your women as I grind your virtual bones into a fine paste.
We've set up ground rules: we'll be playing on a 5v5 map, and facing each other on the middle lane; we'll both play as Nocturne and the first person to destroy a tower or kill the other champion wins. No jungling before the 5-minute mark, and of course, no bots or outside help. As an added bonus, I invited our other intern, Anthony Valva (who has only played League of Legends once and has no clue what a "Nocturne" even is) to shoutcast the match for us and act as referee.
We still need to come up with a humiliating act for the loser (which will no doubt be Lucas) to do in the office on Monday for everyone to see. Feel free to leave ideas in the comments, and follow Josh and Lucas on Twitter to watch the trashtalk fly, the livestream roll and hear Lucas cry the bitter tears of a man who's lost everything.
