Mike Schramm
Los Angeles, CA - http://mikeschramm.com
Mike is a writer for TUAW, Joystiq, Massively, and WoW.com. Learn more on his website, mikeschramm.com.
by Mike Schramm
{ 6 days ago }
That right there's a big ugly frost dragon
named Sindragosa, and with the newest patch headed to the
World of Warcraft (we expect it sometime this December), we'll be bringing her down. It won't be easy, but then again,
WoW players have Joystiq's own
WoW.com to guide them. You can read all about that fight,
the new patch, and other popular stories in the
World of Warcraft on our weekly roundup after the break.
Continued →
by Mike Schramm
{ 13 days ago }
It's a great time to be a
WoW player -- Hallow's End is in the air,
patch 3.3 is being tested, and the
Cataclysm expansion is slowly revealing its secrets to us. Heck, Eliza Dushku is
playing World of Warcraft, why aren't you? After the break, ten of the most popular stories from Joystiq's Azeroth-obsessed sister site,
WoW.com. If you haven't ever visited the biggest MMO around yet, now might be the time to finally take the leap.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 20 days ago } 
It's that magical time of year in Azeroth -- pumpkins adorn the inns, players are chowing down on candy like crazy, and a deep rhyming voice echoes throughout the world, originating from somewhere in the Scarlet Monastery. Yes, it's the in-game
Hallow's End holiday again, and the Headless Horseman is terrorizing newbies and veterans alike. Head past the break for all the information you need about trick-or-treating your way through Azeroth.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 27 days ago } 
It's an exciting time over at
WoW.com, Joystiq's site for everything
World of Warcraft. The Public Test Realm (a.k.a PTR) is in full swing, which means we're swimming with all of the new features and items and dungeons that will come out soon in a brand new content patch to the game. While you're waiting, whether you're a
WoW veteran or newbie, head on past the break and check out what's new in Azeroth.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 1 month ago }
Things are hopping as usual over in Azeroth, and Joystiq sister site
WoW.com is jumping in time with the tune. Patch 3.3 is being tested, and from what we know so far, it'll bring a new raid, new 5-mans, and possibly the end of the story of Arthas Menethil (a.k.a. The Lich King himself). Want to learn more? Read on!
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by Mike Schramm
{ 1 month ago }

IndieCade 2009 was held in Culver City, CA this past weekend, and the local art galleries and restaurants were filled with independent games and their developers from all over the world. The festival billed itself as the
"video game Sundance" and lived up to this self-made reputation, putting 29 different indie games on display, both throughout the weekend and during a Thursday night opening ceremony MC'd by
Uncharted 2's Richard Lemarchand (shown above with festival founder Stephanie Barish).
We've rounded up the festival's finalists in the gallery below. You may be familiar with
a few of them, including Twisted Pixel's
The Maw and a selection of well-known iPhone titles, but all of these titles deserve your attention -- and a playthrough!
by Mike Schramm
{ 1 month ago }

The Saboteur has been catching eyes since
its announcement way back in 2007 and now, with the game only a few months from
release on December 8th, we got the chance to sit down with lead designer Tom French and art director Chris Hunt to discuss Nazis, their black-and-white recreation of the city of Paris, and killing the one while running around the other.
French did a quick presentation before our interview, where he told the story of
William Grover-Williams – the racecar driver-turned-saboteur that the game's protagonist, Sean Devlin, is based on – as well as the cinematic influences on
The Saboteur, from
Raiders of the Lost Ark to
The Third Man. Afterwards, we sat down with both designers to talk about why you'll find plenty of color, but no ghost guns (you'll see) or multiplayer in their upcoming game.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 1 month ago }

The Saboteur, Pandemic's latest open-world shooter about a rough and tumble Irish lad bringing color back to Nazi-occupied Paris, showed promise when we played an early build
back at E3; but it definitely needed work.
Previewing a current build, I found that development has continued to progress. For one, you won't confuse
The Saboteur with any other title this holiday season. The black-and-white landscape (part
Casablanca, part
Sin City; as lead designer Tom French describes it) is distinctive, with the "City of Lights" living up to its name and various splashes of Nazi-red creeping in among the buildings. The "look" of this game will definitely win some admirers, even if the gameplay doesn't end up quite as polished.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 1 month ago }
The
World of Warcraft is a strange and savage place: not only is there continually some Orc or Murloc or crazed cult attacking whatever various settlement you choose to spend your time in, but you've also got to deal with patch releases, forum trolls and the occasional crazed developer too! That's why you should be reading
WoW.com -- we're your own personal sherpa for the biggest MMO around.
Peep our roundup of ten popular posts from the past week after the break.
Continued →
by Mike Schramm
{ 1 month ago }
It's a special time of year in the
World of Warcraft -- the leaves are a'changing and the brews are a'flowing. Brewfest is upon us! Time to go imbibing the finest in Dwarven ales (and deliver some, too, on those crazy rams). If you need a guide to all of the festivities, you know Joystiq's
WoW-obssessed sister site
WoW.com has you covered -- here's our top ten posts from the past week.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 1 month ago }
The
World of Warcraft is brimming with anticipation lately, from next month's anniversary activities (the game is almost five years old) to next year's expected
Cataclysm expansion. Whether you're a Northrend veteran or still haven't seen Elwynn Forest, Joystiq sister site
WoW.com has you covered. If it's in Azeroth, we can tell you all about it.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 2 months ago }
Cats and dogs, sleeping -- well, you know the drill. Blizzard introduced faction transfers to
World of Warcraft last week, and as you might imagine, it has us
WoW.com folks in a tizzy. Trolls becoming Humans? Night Elves becoming Tauren? It's one big scandal all around. Here's that story, and nine more popular ones, from Joystiq's
World of Warcraft-obsessed sister site
WoW.com.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 2 months ago }
We're still reeling from everything we saw at BlizzCon a few weeks ago over at
WoW.com, from all the news we heard about the next expansion,
Cataclysm, to everything else about Icecrown and the anniversary celebration in the upcoming
patch 3.2.2. There's a ton of big news lately over on the site, but here's our most popular posts for you to browse through. Don't forget to
hit the costume galleries -- we've got tons more pictures like the gem above.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 2 months ago }
What a week it has been in the
World of Warcraft. Last weekend in Anaheim, Blizzard held
BlizzCon, a convention of over 20,000 people, and announced the third expansion of the world's biggest MMO:
Cataclysm. New races, new levels, new systems and instances, and oh yeah: the entire world will explode thanks to the return of a very evil and very angry dragon.
Here's our most popular posts from the past seven days to catch you up.
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by Mike Schramm
{ 2 months ago }
It's
BlizzCon fever over on Joystiq sister site
WoW.com. Blizzard's annual convention takes place this weekend in Anaheim, and boy are we ready to go there. While we're all packing and flying cross-country to see what Blizzard has in store for us (
a new expansion announcement? More
Diablo III and
Starcraft II info?), you can read up on our most popular stories of the last seven days below.
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Features