A good question was recently posed on the Ontario Pathfinder forums: where is the cheapest place to buy Pathfinder books in Toronto?

There’s really not a straightforward answer to this one. On a normal day, the prices at most of the major gaming stores downtown are fairly equitable. You might save a dollar here or there, but there’s generally not huge difference.

That being said, there are tips and to tricks to landing the best prices on Pathfinder materials in the city. As a reference for the frugal gamer, I intend to briefly detail the major gaming stores in the city, what goodies they tend to keep in stock, and how prone they are to put them on sale.

The Silver Snail

Where?

Just off of Dundas Square.

What?

The Silver Snail offers a modest collection of Pathfinder books, mainly focusing on adventure paths and very recent splat books. One can generally find most of the core hardcovers there, but items such as the Advanced Race Guide are more scarcely stocked.

May 19, 2013 Radiostorm Pathfinder, Random Thoughts No comments

WildStar is my most anticipated game of 2013. Although there are a number of MMOs on my radar, WildStar is the only one that seems to possess that magic combination of innovation and rock solid production value I look for.

Still, I worry.

WildStar isn’t special. It’s not going to be ushered down from the heavens on its launch date, heralded by a cherubic chorus of angels. The game is going to have to overcome the same hurdles every MMO is faced with, and there’s a good chance it will fall flat on its face.

Today, I’d like to identity three major pitfalls WildStar will have to overcome if the game hopes to carve out a plot of land for itself in the MMO frontier.

Content Clout

Digital soothsayers like to point to World of Warcraft‘s upcoming ten-year birthday as the expiration date of the juggernaut. Nobody, they say, wants to play a ten-year-old MMO – you might as well be trudging through the original EverQuest or Ultima Online!

May 12, 2013 Radiostorm Online Games, Random Thoughts No comments

With the upcoming re-release of EarthBound on the Wii-U console, I thought it was about time for some “real talk” with all you fan boys and retronauts interested in buying a physical copy of the SNES classic. First and foremost:

EarthBound is not a rare game.

Really, it isn’t. Not even close. Anyone who advertises it as such is a liar.

There were 140,000 copies of EarthBound sold across North America. This isn’t an especially huge number, but is large enough that you shouldn’t worry about supplies drying up any time soon. Log in to Ebay and you can peruse numerous EarthBound listings, with or without the various extras (guide, box) that came with the original game.

So why do people think the game is rare? The fact that there was never a re-release (something that is about to get remedied) has made it less accessible for the average gamer. Savvy sellers are also keen to capitalize on the overwhelming enthusiasm of the fan base; jacking up cartridge prices and hoarding copies to make complete sets.

May 10, 2013 Michael Random Thoughts No comments

(where Michael deconstructs discontinued franchises, and puts forth ideas concerning hypothetical sequels.)

Overview

I know what most of you are thinking right now: “What the crap is Equinox?”. Released in 1993 as a sequel to the NES classic Solstice, Equinox failed to generate much buzz upon hitting the market. Players derided its intense difficulty level, occasional glitchiness, and unusual gameplay mechanics. It was quickly designated as a sub-par entry into the Super Nintendo’s extensive library, and soon faded from the gaming scene all together.

But a few players managed to overlook some of the game’s quirks to see it for what it really is: a unique, isometric, puzzle-platformer unlike any other game released in its era. Is it unpolished? A little. A bit too hardcore? Definitely. But Equinox is a severely underrated title that the gaming community certainly needs to take another look at.

May 1, 2013 Michael Game Design, Random Thoughts 2 comments

I apologize for the lateness of this blog post. My computer of six years died last weekend, and I’ve been scrambling to recover my data to my laptop and arrange a proper viking funeral.

Despite beginning on a personal sour note, I see 2013 as a year of hopefulness. After a sluggish end to 2012, there is a deluge of compelling PC titles set for release in the year of the snake. I’d like to highlight a few games that have specifically caught my attention. For those of you who regularly frequent the blog, none of these should be a surprise.

Starbound

Terraria ate a month of my life that I’ll never get back. When I heard that a spiritual sequel was in development by Team Chucklefish, I was simultaneously enthused and distressed.

March 15, 2013 Radiostorm Random Thoughts No comments

The last thing anyone could accuse WildStar of being is boring.

Since the game’s announcement at Gamescom 2011, developer Carbine Studios has trickled a steady stream of tantalizing details about their upcoming MMO to their eager fans. This has included a comprehensive AMA session on Reddit by WildStar‘s executive producer Jeremy Gaffney as well as a charming trailer describing the game’s unique player housing system. These efforts have been rewarded with a ballooning presence on social media and MMORPG.com, a development that makes WildStar seem less like a dark horse in the MMO genre and more like a title contender each day.

True to form, Carbine Studios has brought their A-game to the new year. A pair of cinematic trailers have been released showcasing the playable races of the game’s two major factions: the Dominion and the Exiles. Although many of these details were released or hinted at prior, the trailers serve as a great introduction to the lore of the game for new fans.

March 6, 2013 Radiostorm Online Games, Random Thoughts No comments

I’m an admitted thief. I break into houses at night, burgle the valuables inside, and pawn these items for cold hard cash. It doesn’t matter if I’m wandering the Mojave Wasteland or strolling the streets of Beregost, I’ll never pass up an easy mark. Some may call my actions reprehensible, but I prefer the term chaotic neutral.

Theft is a hallmark aspect of morality in western roleplaying games. Picking locks, hiding in shadows, and pickpocketing have become staple skills in this genre, regardless of the era or setting of the game. It’s not hard to see why. The choice between earning a desired item or stealing it is one of the most fundamental moral decisions a person can make. Abiding by the law provides us a sense of moral satisfaction; breaking it allows us a cloying childlike glee, akin to stealing a cookie from the jar when your parents aren’t looking. Because of this, stealing has become the base measure of any virtual morality system.

December 12, 2012 Radiostorm Random Thoughts No comments

The second edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is often not remembered fondly. The convoluted calculations THAC0 scores enforced (which all too often involved dealing with negative numbers) look arcane compared to the streamlined nature of the modern d20 system. Even throwback games tend to gloss over the bones of this edition, aiming more for emulating the theme of the game rather than the specific mechanics. However, Second Edition is what I grew up with, and I still carry around a dice bag full of nostalgia for the game.

One core rulebook in the Second Edition canon stands out specifically in my mind: the Monstrous Manual. This tome, gloriously illustrated by the likes of Tony DiTerlizzi, contains some of my favourite pen-and-paper monsters of all time. Sure, many are goofy by modern sensibilities (giffs, otyughs, and xorn come to mind), but the Monstrous Manual was the king of set piece monsters. Many creatures lacked direct combat abilities or employed tactics that whole rooms or dungeons had to be designed around. A dungeon master could flip to a random page of the Monstrous Manual and plan out a whole night’s worth of adventuring based on the one creature he stumbled upon.

October 20, 2012 Radiostorm Game Design, Random Thoughts No comments

No Unearthed update this week! I have been doing work, but it is all text-based stuff that would reveal key plot points from the game. SUPER SECRET PLOT POINTS. Anyways, instead of posting nothing I thought I would show you some random stuff that me and RS have been working on lately.

First off, here are some test logos that we’ve put together for Spellstorm, a yearly gaming convention that takes place here in Toronto. Radiostorm came up with the basic layout for them, while I developed the badass maelstrom graphic in the background. They will probably go through a few more iterations before getting to the final product, but the basic shape should remain about the same.

October 14, 2012 Michael Random Thoughts No comments

I worked about 60 hours last week, and as a result I didn’t get any work done on Unearthed! Instead of neglecting the Monday blog post entirely, I’ve decided to link up a few awesome websites made by cool people. I hope this meager offering will hold you over until next week, where I will have at least SOMETHING to show you.

Mato Tree

Personal site of Mato, the crazy translator and ultra nerd.

An expansive blog, featuring everything from game design projects to EarthBound price guides. Check out the Legends of Localization for an expansive analysis of several video game localizations, including Super Mario Bros and Final Fantasy IV.

Those Guys

Entertainment w/ Information

A website that aggregates game and entertainment articles from a variety of talented writers, with a focus on collectables and vintage gaming. It may not have the most polished content, but it boasts more updates then many professional gaming websites.

September 30, 2012 Michael Random Thoughts No comments