Fifteen years ago I almost started an arduous trek down a very dangerous rabbit hole. I installed Everquest on my PC and luckily most of my friends weren’t playing so I avoided its clutches. I then saw the power of it in full effect with my roommate my Freshman year of college as I had a roommate who literally spent 14 hour binges without leaving his desk.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a gamer and have gone to extremes but even that was a bit too much for me. Since, I have carefully navigated past the waters of various MMOs like City of Heroes, World of Warcraft and DC Universe Online only getting just a taste and not allowing myself to be caught in their web.

Just over a week ago, those who have been stuck in the Evercrack trap found out they will be returning to it with Everquest Next. While Everquest II floundered, players maintained a strong base into Everquest even well into the days of World of Warcraft’s reign. Now, they will be rewarded with a new MMO that redefines the rules for what people expect from a massively multiplayer online RPG. You’ll be able to see a highlight of all the new features in the video below.

South Park is one of those shows that just doesn’t seem to get old. After years and years of popular TV, a theatrical movie and countless other tie-ins, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been able to keep the franchise fresh. A lot of that is due to the timely and topical nature of the series, which in and of itself is born from the show’s simplicity.

That simplicity can be deceptive, so when Obsidian claimed they were making an epic RPG based on South Park that would feel like you were playing an actual episode there was skepticism. Sure the screen caps looked stellar, but those are easy to produce, we needed to see something more.

At the 2012 E3 Microsoft Conference we finally got our first glimpse at the game in action, and it looks like mission accomplished for Obsidian. The animation looks smooth, the designs are awesome and most importantly the humor is there. One big reason for that last part is the game itself is being written by Trek Parker and Matt Stone, making this truly as much on an interactive episode as you could possibly get.

The game will be released on the PS3 and 360 in early 2013, but for now take a look at the full E3 trailer after the jump.

Though one of our contenders for Game of the Year, even The Flickcast has to admit there have been a share of problems in the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (mostly if you were one of the poor souls who chose to play it on the PlayStation 3 though). As expected, another patch is coming out soon to hopefully finally fix the frame rate issues that have afflicted players the further they progress in the PS3 version as well as other quest improvements that had become minor inconveniences.

There will also be new features added to the game. Some of these are minor and only affect the PC like the option for high end rigs to add shadow effects to the grass in the world. Others are awesome visual upgrades like new cinematic kill cameras for projectiles, spells and melee weapons. Take a look below at the kill cam trailer which shows some fantastic new visuals like a full on suplex and an arrow shot high into the air and taking an opponent out with a shot to the head (not the knee unfortunately).

NEW FEATURES

• New cinematic kill cameras for projectile weapons and spells
• New kill moves and animations for melee weapons
• Shadows on grass available (PC)
• Smithing skill increases now factor in the created item’s value
• Improved visual transition when going underwater
• Improved distance LOD transition for snowy landscapes

Check out the new Kill Cam animations trailer after the jump for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s 1.5 Patch now in Beta on Steam and coming soon to PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

Diablo is one of those franchises that exists in every gamers dreams. It was one of the classic Blizzard titles that has been long lost in the success of World of Warcraft and Starcraft, but there has always been hope that we would see a return to the action RPG franchise.

So a few years ago it was announced that Diablo 3 was officially on the way, and the world of video games seemed like a happier place. However, A funny thing happened on the way to Gamestop and the release missed an originally planed 2011 release window. Reports of an early 2012 release were heard, but alas we have at least a few more months to wait.

Activision announced in a recent financial report that Diablo 3 is currently expected for the middle of the year, killing any hope that we would see the game sooner rather than later.

That was not the only disappointing news for Blizzard fans in the report. The long awaited second part of Starcraft 2 and the next World of Warcraft expansion are on shaky ground for a 2012 release. Blizzard is only expected to ship one other title this year in addition to Diablo 3, meaning one or both of those two announced projects is going to be pushed to 2013.

The Bitcast returns this week with their record setting 8th Episode featuring the Flickcast’s own version of Mario & Luigi, though JC and WallE will both always lay claim to being the star of the episode.

In the News of the Week, JC and WallE discuss the upcoming Spike Video Game Awards show and speculate on the upcoming announcement from Epic Games, the makers of Gears of War and the Infinity Blade franchises. They also discuss the 10th Anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III coming to iOS before getting into detail with South Park: The Game coming from Obsidian. They even talk Beta numbers for Star Wars: The Old Republic and announce the current and upcoming DLC for Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, sadly with the absence of Sean Bean.

In the Long Grind in Skyrim this week, JC gets in detail on both the dragons and music of the Elder Scrolls V.

For the Topic of the Week, WallE shows that he can handle both movies and gaming as he discusses the scores composed for some of the most influential titles in gaming history.

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