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We had an incredible Thanksgiving Weekend of sales and now it’s Cyber Monday! Here’s your opportunity to save on all of the Armor and Mobius series today. Just put a check in the option box that’s on the configurator page and you will have access to instant savings!

Start shopping now!

Happy Holidays from DogHouse Systems!

Time to level up your gaming machine this holiday season with DogHouse Systems!

For four days, starting Thanksgiving, we’ll supercharge your new gaming rig for free.  The higher-end your selection, the more you get!

Armor VS / Mobius VS - Double Memory.  The Armor VS and Mobius VS normally come standard with 4 GB of memory.  This Thanksgiving weekend, you get a free upgrade to 8 GB.

Mobius ES - Double Memory and Upgrade to 120 GB Intel 320 Series Solid State Drive.  The Mobius ES normally comes with 4 GB of memory and a 500 GB 7,200 RPM spindle-based drive.  This Thanksgiving weekend, order your Mobius ES with the default 4 GB of memory and 500 GB drive and we’ll upgrade you to 8 GB of memory and a blazing fast 120 GB Intel 320 Series Solid State Drive for free.  Boot into Windows 7 and load your games in record times!

Armor ES - Double Memory and Free Water Cooling with Factory Overclock.  The Armor ES normally comes with 4 GB of memory and standard air cooling with stock CPU clock speed.  This Thanksgiving weekend, order your Armor ES with 4 GB and we’ll install 8 GB; order your Armor ES with 8 GB and we’ll install 16 GB.  We’ll also upgrade you to a Corsair H60 closed-loop CPU water cooler and perform factory CPU overclocking for free.

Armor TL / Mobius TL - Double Memory, Upgrade to 120 GB Intel 320 Series Solid State Drive & Choice of $25 J!NX code or 60 days prepaid WoW time card.  The Armor TL normally comes with a 1 TB 7,200 RPM spindle-based drive and the Mobius TL normally comes with a 500 GB 7,200 RPM spindle-based drive and they both normally come with 8 GB of memory.  This Thanksgiving weekend, order your Armor TL or Mobius TL with the default 8 GB of memory and spindle-based drive and we’ll upgrade you to 16 GB of memory and a blazing fast 120 GB Intel 320 Series Solid State Drive.  We will also give you a choice of a $25 J!NX code or 60 days of prepaid WoW time.

Just select the Thanksgiving Weekend promotion option on the store page to level up your new gaming machine for free!  Offer valid until midnight Sunday, November 27th.

Happy Holidays from DogHouse Systems!

Let’s face it, we’re all geeks here. Well, okay, there’s an chance you’re not a geek, reader, but it’s unlikely. And what do us geeks like? Zombies. And what do we like even more than that? A really good zombie game, if the success of titles like Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, and Dead Space are any indication. Techland’s Dead Island was announced at E3 2006, but it’s only been recently that it captured a lot of attention with the famous non-linear teaser trailer, featuring a family rescuing their young daughter from the undead, only to have her turn and attack them herself. The video very quickly went viral, and built a lot of hype for the actual game, but does it live up to it? It definitely fills a niche in zombie titles that most of us didn’t realize was missing, and it does it very well, but it isn’t perfect.

I’ll admit, when I fired this game up, I expected another Left 4 Dead set on a paradise resort. You’re given a choice of 4 characters at the game’s start, and the title quickly bombards you with requests to join other nearby players. However, this is anything but that. It’s an open world action RPG that’s a lot slower paced. Where Left 4 Dead gives you a choice of weapons and a clear point A to Point B to run to, with swarms of zombies standing in your way, Dead Island offers you an entire Island to explore, tons of weapons with statistics to sort through, XP and leveling, and even crazier, talent trees. Each of the 4 characters has their own unique trees, and can be built to focus on survival, maximizing damage with their preferred class of weapons, or just going into a rage and unleashing hurt. And they’re all very different. Picking one of the characters is almost as much about picking an RPG class as it is about who you want to play as (though sadly, the game does not make that very clear at the start).

Dead Island has a pretty standard Zombie apocalypse story, with a few twists and turns that, while somewhat predictable, were still enjoyable. At the start you’re given a brief narration by each character about why they are on the Island, and why their lives are so messed up. None of them come across as very sympathetic, mostly because they either blame others for their own problems, or hold on to the bitterness and anger like it’s armoring them from the rest of the world. Okay, fine, I can get behind a character with a troubled past trying to redeem themselves, and a zombie apocalypse sounds like the perfect canvas on which to do it. The problem is, there’s almost no character development in the title. You’ll hear from your character a few times, generally when they’re getting beaten down, level up, or responding to a questgiver. And there are some occasional cutscenes that are FAR too infrequent. I didn’t see my first one until I was nearly a third of the way through the game, and I was shocked when I saw the other characters present, despite them not being present with me during the game. Techland clearly wants the players to team up, but for those going the single-player route; this was very jarring and took me out of the world.

Speaking of the world, Dead Island takes place on a tropical island paradise called Banoi. You spend the first part of the game on a luxury resort, and holy cow is it beautifully rendered. Sandy beaches, palm trees, even the water looks amazing. It looked so good, I had flashbacks to my honeymoon in Jamaica, wishing our resort was this awesome! You could spend a long time admiring the detailed scenery…if it wasn’t for the constant threat of zombie attacks. Zombies lumber toward you (or run if you happen to come across the screaming “Infected” zombies) with realisitc gaits, swing at you with flowing limbs that they clearly don’t have full control over, and their faces, well, let’s just say it might give you a few nightmares. The basic type of zombie that you encounter for most of the game, the Walker, can get in your face, allowing the player a quick speed-click game to shove them off before they bite you. Those moments are some of the most terrifying, because you get a full on closeup of an amazingly rendered undead monster hissing and screaming inches away from you. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to come across ones that still have their skin intact. If not…well you’re gonna see some internal organs, and they aren’t pretty, a testament to the amazing work Techland did on rendering those gruesome details.

The attention to detail doesn’t stop with the models either. You’ll get your hands on some blunt and edged weapons early on in the game, and when used against your undead foes…they bleed. A lot. Enemy models are built with independant body zones that respond realistically if you attach them. Slamming a bat or oar into a zombie’s arm will eventually result in it breaking and becoming useless. If you go for the head on the other hand, well, it might just get smashed into pieces. And yes, you will see every bit of the blood spewing that you’re likely imagining now. It gets even worse with a bladed weapon. It’s an impressive amount of realism, even if I had a hard time with it after a while.

The same amount of detail, however, is badly lacking in the human models, which is a real shame given how good they looked in the trailer. NPCs you interact with look stiff and robotic, their expressions never changing, even when you’ve brought them amazing news about saving their loved ones. The shadows don’t fall on faces correctly either, making the characters look inhuman, almost comically. It’s quite a shame, as it makes the otherwise decent voice acting seem worse than it truly is.

Still, those minor quibbles don’t change the fact that Dead Island looks and feels amazing. All throughout the game, but especially during the sections in the game’s dilapidated city of Moresby, you’ll constantly hear the roars and screams of zombies far away, loud enough to make you jump and spin around, looking for the threat. You’ll stumble across what you think are dead bodies along the beaches and streets, thinking nothing of them, only to find yourself in trouble when they suddently stand up and try to maul you. You never escape that feeling of dread that permeates the game when you’re outside a safehouse, and it makes for a truly amazing experience.

Gameplay in Dead Island is akin to your standard RPG fare, you’ll receive quests from many NPCs, some related to the main plot, others merely optional sidequests. There is a veritable ton of the latter, but you don’t necessarily have to do them. While these extra quests will offer you more cash, weapons, blueprints for modding them, and most importantly XP, enemies in Dead Island scale with your level, so you can technically breeze through the main storyline quests only if you want. You’ll need to do a lot of scavenging to get the cash you need for repairing your weapons, even moreso if you plan to upgrade or modify them, but it is possible. The game’s first person controls should be very familiar to anyone who’s played a first person shooter before, although you’ll be spending a great majority of your time in melee combat due to the scarcity of guns and ammunition. While you can’t pick up ANYTHING you find and use it as a weapon, there are a great deal of them lying around, and they each have their own unique animations and attributes appropriate to the weapon. I noticed that when I stood on top of a van, I could crouch and swing my electrified baseball bat and hit the zombies below as they futilety tried to reach me, but the knife’s shorter blade would never come close.

We’ve all likely heard the stories of Steam releasing a development built of Dead Island, which was obviously nowhere near ready for release, but unfortuantely, even with that corrected, the game still had a number of problematic bugs during our playthrough, mostly related to saved games. The game’s autosave feature sometimes has trouble remembering where exactly you were during your last save, and during initial sessions, when I loaded my last save, Iwould find ourselves back at the title’s beginning in the beachhouse you take refuge in. However, later playthroughs closer to the release of this review seemed to no longer have this problem, so it looks like Techland may have patched the issue. Still, I would have recommended a little bit longer in the testing cycle before releasing a title with these problems.

All told, Dead Island is an incredibly fun traipse through a Zombie apocalypse. The story is entertaining, with minimal plot holes or omitted details, and sets up a future sequel likely involving a worldwide epidemic well. You’ll love exploring the island in its amazing detail while constantly checking all around you for the next special zombie, seeing just how long you can survive,

- Overall Score: 90

I’m really excited about this game because of how unique and genuinely enjoyable it is. We need more titles like this.

All of us here at DogHouse Systems are saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs. His story is an incredible one and should serve as an inspiration for anyone to pursue their dreams.

Founding Apple or Pixar would alone be sufficient for permanent rcognition as an industry giant. Steve Jobs did both. His creativity and passion for what he did was manifest in the ground breaking success of his products. The iPod, iPhone, App store and iPad have all revolutionized the industry and forever changed the way we consume media.

As a young 17 year old obsessed with computers I was incredibly excited for the 1999 made for t.v. movie Pirates of Silicon Valley. I remember watching it and being awe inspired by how game changing a couple of motivated nerds could be. Steve Jobs’ story inspired me then and continues to inspire me now.

Mr. Jobs, the world is a better place because your creativity, passion and quest for excellence. The entire industry is mourning your loss and on behalf of DogHouse Systems we thank you for all you’ve given us.

PAX Prime was awesome this year and we’re very thankful for everyone who came the booth to see us, Guild Wars 2 and all the excellent Logitech peripherals. If you weren’t able to make it do not worry because we’ve got you covered! This is the first of several PAX videos we’ll be putting out. Enjoy!

Want to win a copy of DiRT 3? Check out our review of DiRT 3 below and listen to the most recent episode of The DogHouse Podcast to find out all about DiRT 3. Here’s how you enter to win a copy of the game:

1) If you haven’t already, follow us on Twitter and/or like us on Facebook.

2) Then send an e-mail to contest@doghousenetwork.com and provide a humorous acronym for what “DiRT” stands for. We’ll pick a favorite and announce the winner on Monday!

And don’t forget, this is in addition to the contest described on episode 37 of The DogHouse Podcast!

Jeff - The Left Brain

Jeff’s full review coming soon!

Overall Score:

Brandon - The Right Brain

Note: As of this review and going forward, Jeff and I are switching to a new scoring format. Our final score will no longer be a strict average of the categories we have previously used. Instead we will use a 1-100 system based on our overall opinions. This will allow for more flexibility in our scoring.

I’ll say this right away: I’m probably the last person you want to read a review of Dirt 3 from if you’re looking for objectivity. It’s why gaming magazines and sites have several reviewers on staff; to ensure these biases don’t taint reviews by assigning the games in question to those who don’t have them. What bias do I have, you ask? I don’t like racing games. I never have. So when my podcast compatriots suggested the title, I inwardly groaned. Still, the Dirt series does have a good history of quality titles, so I’m choosing to press forward and give this title as fair a shake as I can manage. Perhaps if you share my preferences, or rather lack thereof, you’ll find this review useful. If not, well, that’s why Jeff’s review is right above mine!

If you want the feel of tearing through a snow-covered dirt road at insane speeds in a car that’s been incredibly souped up, you have your game. Dirt 3 has some of the best visuals in any title I’ve ever seen. Everything has an absolute insance amount of detail, from the background spectators along the track to the detailed decals on your car. Take a hard turn on a snow or rain covered track, and you’re going to kick mud and snow on your opponents. Jump go wrong? Your car will suffere amazingly realistic damage, Doors will get torn off, windshields will shatter, and if you go way off course…well, the game is kind enough to place you back on the track instead of witnessing what will surely be a bone-shattering crash.

That realism extends to the driving controls as well. You don’t get the same response from your controls driving on gravel that you do on dirt, or rain. Just like in a real race (I assume anyway), you have to train yourself in new methods of handling and braking depending on where you’re racing, and what you’re racing in, if you want to succeed. The controls are very tight, responding to the slightest touch of the keyboard (or if you’ve got one, the twitch of your wheel). Sound a little overwhelming? Yeah, it did to me too. Luckily the game has a number of options for rookie drivers that will not only slow you down to the speed you need to take the harder turns automatically, it will give you a line on the track that you can do your best to follow to stay on the track. These features help bring in new players to the title (or the genre) and stay more competitive to Dirt veterans in multiplayer, something that I was quite thankful for in my matchups with John and Keith!

The campaign mode provides you with a series of four seasons worth of races, with a solid majority of them being actual rally events (a solid switch from Dirt 2, a major criticism of that title from racing fans), though other options such as trailblazers and gymkhana are present as well. In an odd choice by developer Codemasters, you play very little role in the selection of what cars end up in your garage. Sponsored teams send over their cars to you as you level up your reputation by competing. Every new car you get is obviously better than what you’ve had previously, so there’s no reason to build up any sense of attachment to your favorite rides.

There isn’t much need for a storyline in a title like this, but your nameless driver does have some voices that give you advice and help as you progress. Unfortunately, these background voices are more irritating than anything. Your agent and mechanic don’t ever give you any good advice or offer any gameplay additions, and the fan manager is incredibly irritating, constantly suggesting you upload clips of your last race to Youtube. You actually CAN upload clips to your YouTube account (assuming you have one of course), but unfortunately, they’re limited to 30 seconds. That’s about the limit of the game’s social features, sadly. There’s no way to save replays outside of the small clips, so sadly no one will ever be able to enjoy your flawless runs.

One major criticism I have is the load times. The first time I started the title up, my first reaction after a few races was that I felt like I was spending a majority of my time looking at the load screen instead of racing. The load screens are quite lovely, spanning the camera all around the vehicle you’re about to race with, but that gets tiresome extremely quickly. I’m hoping to see some future updates which address these, as it’s a severe detraction from enjoying the normally fun races.

The multiplayer is where Dirt 3 truly shines. The amount of race options alone is staggering. Oh sure, there’s all the traditional rally events you see from the single player, sure, but there’s plenty of really strange (and incredibly fun) events as well, such as Outbreak, which turns your racing experience into a zombie-survival game, or Transporter, which is a driving Capture the Flag event. I’m not particularly fond of being forced to organize these matches via the Games for Windows Live interface, but it handled them reasonably well. Sadly most of these fun match types are limited only to one map, an old power plant that also offers stunt missions.

If you’re looking for the best rally racing title you can get your hands on, you want Dirt 3. Even if you prefer other forms of racing, Dirt 3 offers enough options that any race fan would be happy with. However, if like me, racing really isn’t your cup of tea; you’ll probably want to skip this title. It’s a lot of run to race with friends, especially in some of the crazier modes, but there’s not much the title can offer you if you don’t care about the basic premise, and the small flaws that a stronger racing fan can ignore will make your experience seem much worse.

- Overall Score: 65

For the first time in a year and a half I reactivated my WoW account. Jumping back into WoW feels like the digital equivalent of coming out of surgery (which I just recently did so I feel qualified to make the comparison). I wake up in Dalaran confused, all of my talent points have been refunded and I have a penguin pet in the mail. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!? If only the hospital had given me a penguin.

Dalaran is abandoned like a Spartan baby found to be unworthy and I’m quickly irritated at myself for rolling a Warrior whose professions are tailoring and enchanting. During my hectic Navy days I had odd fixations and I really, I mean REALLY, wanted that flying carpet mount. Perhaps I watched too much of Disney’s Aladdin as a kid….

WoW has changed, a lot. I started on launch day, November 23^rd, 2004. It hardly seems like the same game now. Dual specs?!?!? I remember grinding gold between weekly BWL and MC raids so I could spec shadow on my Priest and enjoy battlegrounds. That 100g a week was so much back then. Now I see items being sold in trade chat for 15000g and more. Oh yeah, did I mention dual specs too?! /facepalm

Unable to deal with the confusion and disappointment I log off my Warrior and roll a Troll Mage. Having always played Horde I was exceedingly familiar with the Horde starting areas and some familiarity was exactly wh—OH MY GOD. The Trolls have their own starting area now?! And…Thrall has left the Horde? /cry

I knew Cataclysm brought about significant world changes and though I was initially aghast at Blizzard tampering with my precious Trolls I quickly came to appreciate the new starting area. The dynamic and streamlined questing, improved NPC interaction, and more efficient story telling are all welcomed additions.

Two weeks have passed since I reactivated my account and I must say that despite the “back in my day” side of me which wants the new players to know how hard it used to be (1000g for epic mount at level 60), I must say, it is a better game now. The dungeon finder alone is cause enough to make that statement but if you include all the built in UI changes, achievements and simple ease of enjoyment…well, what I can say? Am I hooked on WoW all over again? Well, my Mage is level 38 and my Warrior is four bars from 85.

We’re proud to share a new Mobius TL demonstration video. Check it out and keep checking back for more content: