Is it just me, or are game companies now looking to milk long dead franchises? Lets see.
 
Take for instance Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10. Now I haven't played said games nor the original Mega Man games but I heard Capcom did a hell of a job with the game and made it just as nostalgic and most importantly fun as the original Mega Man games. This is surprising. Especially since Mega Man earned a spot in the Guiness Book of Records as the most milked video game series.
 
I also haven't played the new Rocket Knight, which I first thought was an attempt at beating a decomposed horse because Sparkster: RKA2 was released over 16 years ago. But apparently its alright, although most levels look the same and the gameplay is pretty bland from what I hear. From the screenshots I have seen of it, Sparkster just doesn't look the same as he did in RKA2. I mean what happened with the badass spiky hair? Why does he suddenly look similar to how he looked in the original Rocket Knight Adventures but less fat?
 
Speaking of a "long overdue sequel" I have played. New Super Mario Bros was alright, but Nintendo missed out on the chance to make something truly spectacular. It felt more like the original Super Mario Bros than anything due to the lack of powerups. Sure you could turn tiny, turn huge or become a turtle but those powerups were so infrequent and annoyingly were needed to reach certain exits that New Super Mario Bros just becomes more of a chore than fun.
 
Why do you think Super Mario World was and still is the best Mario game? Well....
 

• 6 "islands", each filled with many secret exits. And lets not forget Bowser's lair, the Star World and Bonus World as well.
• Not limited to tiny Mario, large Mario and fireball Mario. Oh no, theres a frequent Cape Mario powerup too, and this powerup isn't infrequently found and isn't a pain in the ass to get.
• Unique bosses. Half the time in NSMB, you just stomp on Baby Bowser's head 3 times, or fight the occasional unique boss.
• The final battle with Bowser was actually pretty good.

I have been playing a bit on the 3.2 PTR, and to be honest here, I haven't actually tested an awful lot of changes (like the new raid and 5 man, and the battleground levelling.) But heres my opinion on the upcoming changes anyway:

Trial of the Crusader
At first, I wasn't that interested in seeing this new raid, until I found out that it was going to provide the next tier of content. To me, it just seemed like a few Arena bosses that you had to fight, but with no trash mobs. However, there are rumours that the Scourge are going to intervene in this tournament, and that the rumoured final boss is going to be Anub'arak, the undead king of Azjol-Nerub who we last fought in a 5 man Heroic.

When I first did Azjol-Nerub, I was quite disappointed that Anub'arak had such a minor role to play in Wrath, seeing as he was one of the Scourge to travel with Arthas during Warcraft III. However, if the rumours are true, then there could be an interesting plot twist. Also, I haven't tested any of this raid, but I think it could be good.

Trial of the Champion
As a Hunter currently doing tier 7 content, I think the fact that this dungeon is going to drop item level 200 and 213 items is good, including a decent ranged weapon. However, I am not very interested in this 5 man, although a showdown with the Black Knight could be good. As with TotC, I haven't tested these changes.

Resilience Buff
I have felt like I've taken less damage in PvP. Then again, this could be because I have mostly done PvP with a premade character with full Deadly Gladiator and Tier 8. But I do think that making players take less damage is a good idea, because burst can be overpowered at times.

Battleground Levelling
I think this could be a good change, and if it turns out successful, then it could provide a good alternative to questing which can get repetitive over 80 levels. I haven't managed to test this yet but I'd imagine that it would be a good change.

XP Freezing
I can see two very good effects of this feature:
1) Twinks are separated from levellers, meaning no getting destroyed by twinks with thousands of health, and very powerful enchants/gear when trying to level up through a battleground.
2) The ability to freeze xp gains at a certain level (e.g. 60 and 70) and do old content, since classic/TBC guilds have formed.

Here is a list of my top five video game that I think deserve sequels.

5) Beyond Good and Evil (XBOX/PS2/GC/PC) (I know its happening)
I never played BG&E until about a month before I got an Xbox 360 (I borrowed it from a friend), but from what I played of it, it seems to be a pretty damm good game. I haven't completed it but it seems to be a very solid platform-adventure game that has an interesting world. While I don't think it was the best game ever, I definitely think it deserves a sequel. Thankfully, Ubisoft have announced one.

4) Crackdown (360) (Also happening)
The Halo 3 beta did influence my decision to get Crackdown, and to be honest, I'd say that Crackdown is brilliant. Its very fun, and has a very open world, without being too confusing. Although I think that it could be improved, I still think it was excellent. Which is why I was also glad that Crackdown 2 was announced at E3.

3) Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64/XBOX)
This was one of my favourite games back on the N64 apart from Goldeneye. Like Goldeneye, it also had an excellent multiplayer mode. However, the Xbox rerelease disappointed me (because of the larger amount of censored content than the N64 game, and the multiplayer mode.) Despite this, I would like to see a sequel to this game.

2) Second Sight (XBOX/PS2/GC/PC)
Apart from the Timesplitters series, this was another great game that Free Radical had created. You play a researcher who wakes up six months later in a medical facility with no memories of his past, but you do have psychic abilities (like telekinesis, possession, invisibility etc). This third person shooter did focus a bit on stealth and some puzzles to get around levels, although this was mostly optional and you could just run through and kill everything if you wanted. This is one game that I definitely think deserves a sequel.

1) Jet Set Radio Future (XBOX)
Jet Set Radio Future was one of my favourite games on the Xbox. It had a lot of replay value, and most of the levels were pretty fun to skate around. It also had a very open world, spanning several districts across a futuristic Tokyo, and lots of stuff to do. You could also customise graffiti tags if you wanted. I would definitely want to see a sequel to this game.

I am currently aiming to level a priest to 80 on WoW, because I wanted to select a class that is capable of healing at the endgame. I am also doing this on a PvP server, because I sometimes enjoy doing PvP, and like the added element of danger. I aim to level through questing, instances and battlegrounds (when 3.2 is released.)

At the moment, my Priest is level 6, and I want some advice on actually levelling one, so I have a few questions:

• Is it just me or do Priests burn a lot of mana at low level? What stats should I focus on at low level to sort out mana issues?
• What professions are ideal for levelling? I am thinking of how much money they can make and the bonuses you can gain for levelling them (e.g. Master of Anatomy and Toughness.)
• What is the ideal spec for levelling a Priest? Considering the fact that I aim to heal at 80, and might want to heal instances before then.