It's that time of year again -- the trees and lights are up in Azeroth, and Winter's Veil is upon us. Father Greatwinter is giving out gifts in Ironforge and Orgrimmar, and Blizzard devs are busy giving players the gift that keeps on giving: nerfs and more nerfs. Follow all of the wintry action at Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider -- if there's something under your tree that you need to know about, it'll be there, along with the usual cookies and milk.

News

• World of Warcraft PTR 3.0.8 patch notes
  The first post-expansion patch is queuing up on the test servers, and here's the notes.
• Mount race restrictions lifted, Tauren rejoice
  Now you can mount up on all of the faction mounts, no matter what race you are.
• Character re-customization added for a small fee
  Blizzard makes it possible to re-customize your character's look or gender, for a price.
• FCC Commissioner: World of Warcraft causes college dropouts
  The same woman who blamed television for child obesity blames WoW for people dropping out of college.
  
• Warcraft restaurant opens in Beijing
  T.G.I. Frost Mages? We would also have accepted T.G.I. Fordragon's. Or Arthusbee's, though that last one is bad.
  

Features

• The great Hunter nerf of 2008
  BM Hunters get smacked with the nerf bat.
• The achievements of Winter's Veil
  The Winter holiday has begun on the realms, and here's how to get your holiday title this time around.
• Patch 3.0.8: Analysis of Death Knight changes
  Changes to the dead man class in the new patch.
• Working at Blizzard: Sunshine, rainbows, claymores, backrubs
  A look inside the doors of one of the best game companies in the world, both from an interview with the COO and our own blogger's experience.
• Addon Spotlight: Achievements
  A few good addons for tracking down all of those new achievement points.

The best of WoW Insider: December 9-16, 2008 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Asylums, nurses, and gore: Dementium's awesome Japanese launch event

Asylums, nurses, and gore: Dementium's awesome Japanese launch event originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We really want to be charmed by Order Up!, but this gameplay video was more sleep inducing than a lecture on the merits of drying paint. We just can't help but feel a bit of a "been there, done that" vibe when it comes to this upcoming SuperVillain Studios title.

The promise of restaurant management elements seem like the game's one saving grace, as it sets Order Up! apart from the Cooking Mamas and Diner Dashes of the world. We would have much rather preferred to see a gameplay video of how the sim stuff works. However, since the game did show some initial promise, we'll approach it with an open mind when it releases in late July.

On a related note, Amazon and other retailers list a $39.99 price point for Order Up! Do you think that's still too high for the title, or does $40 hit your virtual restaurant-loving sweet spot?

Gallery: Order Up!

We didn't Order Up! this stale video originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mario's Mexican brother you never knew about originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

X-Play gets their hands on Order Up! originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 May 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Games don't need to have good graphics--but they need to have fun. The upcoming Diner Dash seems to have neither. The competitive world of restauranting should make for an interesting gameplay experience, but this first video of the game looks utterly uninspired. 1UP recently previewed the game: "In Diner Dash, you show patrons to their seats, take their orders, serve them food, and clear the tables when they leave. Promptly serving people and working your way quickly through the increasing line of customers earns you points in the form of tips. The hardest part is managing your own stress levels as you serve impatient people. Sometimes your customers have screaming kids who need high chairs, and you're usually either urging that family of four to quickly finish their hamburgers, or scrambling to mop up the mess they left on the floor."

Seating customers and moving food from one place to the next could provide some brief bursts of entertainment, but is that really enough to warrant a full-fledged game? Watch the video after the cut, and tell us what you think.

Continue reading Diner Dash doesn't look too appetizing

Diner Dash doesn't look too appetizing originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.