Archangel Tyrael
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The games on show at E3 2012 promise to be some of the best of the generation. So you really owe it to yourself to vote in CVG's E3 2012 Awards in the Most Anticipated Title category.
Before the show kicks off, we'll work out which of these 20 special E3 game previews have enjoyed the most page views, Facebook 'Likes', ReTweets and poll votes (see below) and crown our first victor at the Los Angeles event. Show your favourites the love!
Game: Tomb Raider
Likelihood of E3 2012 showing: Certain
Starring a young, fresh-faced Lara Croft, this is unlike any Tomb Raider game you've played before. The 21 year-old treasure hunter is one her way to a mysterious island off the coast of Japan, when a storm hits and her ship is torn in half. She makes it to safety, but quickly discovers that the island is full of dangerous traps, wild animals, and scary tribesmen.
So it's all about survival. In all of the screenshots and artwork released for the game so far, Lara is far from the confident, backflipping, balloon-chested explorer we're used to from the old games: she's a scared little girl, covered in cuts, bruises, and mud. It's a modern take on the character, and could give her some much needed depth. Crystal Dynamics have compared her rebirth to that of Daniel Craig's tougher, more realistic James Bond.
Click here to vote!!!!!! http://www.micropoll.com/a/mpview/1090236-2768547
Which E3 2012 games are you most looking forward to? (Pt.1)
Halo 4
Resident Evil 6
God of War Ascension
Assassin’s Creed 3
StarCraft: Heart of the Swarm
Last of Us
Rainbow Six Patriots
Forza Horizon
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
GTA V
Elder Scrolls Online
Super Mario Wii U
Pikmin 3
Metal Gear Solid 5
Metal Gear Rising Revengence
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
Dead Space 3
Batman: Arkham City 2
Dragon Age 3
Star Trek: The Game
Post Comments Create Free Polls Which E3 2012 games are you most looking forward to? (Pt.2)
Medal of Honor Warfighter
DMC: Devil May Cry
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Hitman Absolution
Tomb Raider
FIFA 13
PES 2013
Gran Turismo 6
Crysis 3
Far Cry 3
Lego Batman 2
Lost Planet 3
Lollipop Chainsaw
Dishonored
Skyrim DLC
Sleeping Dogs
Dust 514
Borderlands 2
Splinter Cell 6
The Last Guardian
Post Comments Create Free Polls You won't be charging around the island killing endangered species with high-powered weapons. You actually start with no supplies at all, and have to scavenge food, water, weapons, and aid. The structure is influenced by the 'Metroidvania' school of game design. Finding new items - like a climbing axe - will enable you to access areas that were previously inaccessible. Rocksteady's Batman games used the same system recently to great effect.
Despite this focus on survival, the developers say there'll be a much greater emphasis on combat than previous Tomb Raider games. Hopefully they'll balance this out with the other hallmarks of the series, namely exploration, puzzles, and dark, scary tombs. The classic dual pistol combo is out, though. Now ammo is scarce, and she has a bow and arrow for backup.
One of Lara's new abilities is her so-called survival instinct. This is a fancy way of saying that certain items in the game world, like a climbable object or puzzle solution, will be highlighted. It's the same kind of thing IO are using in the new Hitman, and Ubisoft have been using in the Assassin's Creed games for a few years now. It's activated whenever Lara stands still, although it's unconfirmed whether you can turn it off or not. We can see some more experienced games finding it intrusive, especially in such an atmospheric world.
The stunning visuals are backed up by a sophisticated physics engine. They aren't just for show, though; they actually figure into the way the puzzles are designed. You'll have to take control of fire, water, and wind to bypass certain obstacles. Other challenges come in the form of quick time events. It's the most cinematic, big budget Tomb Raider game yet.
It was recently announced that Tomb Raider has been delayed until 2013, but the game will make a showing at E3. Expect a full gameplay trailer (and maybe even a demo) at the event, but until then you can watch a new teaser trailer, which is very reminiscent of a darker, grittier Uncharted. We can't accuse Crystal Dynamics of plagiarism, of course, as the Uncharted series borrowed liberally from Tomb Raider.
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If you haven’t treated yourself to the recently leaked Halo 4 beta gameplay video that popped up on NeoGaf over the weekend, do yourself a favor and check it out this instant. Now that we’re all up to speed, let’s take a (blurry, bizarre, and by no means official) look at some of the features on display in the supremely odd video and subsequent screenshot leaks that have the Halo community buzzing (and doubling over with laughter given the phenomenally odd delivery system of said leak).
The first thing I noticed while watching the horrendously blurry gameplay video was that the speed ofHalo 4’s combat seems much faster than previous Halo games. This could be because this is actually a custom match and the speed settings have been tweaked, or it could be the result of sprint no longer being exclusively an armor ability. If it's not a custom match, then it's definitely worthy of at least some concern.
I mean, the addition of unlimited sprint isn't surprising, given that it's a staple of every other modern shooter, and at least 343 is trying to bake it into the multiplayer fiction, but it will no doubt change the pacing and flow of multiplayer in a significant way, and could potentially take away from that "Halo-y" feel that people have come to expect from the series. The same goes for the weapon reload and switching speeds, which look to be quite a bit snappier than in previous Halo games. Again, could be a custom tweak. Too little info to say for sure.
Now, 343 Industries has talked about Halo 4’s customizable loadout feature, but the following screens give us our first real look at some of the options players will be able to pick and choose from when crafting their five loadouts.
Judging from the above picture, it looks like you’ll have six item slots to fill with two weapons, a grenade of some kind, an armor ability, a “tactical package” option, and a “support upgrade” option, the last of which remains a total mystery, as there isn't any info to suggest what this slot might be include. Although, it looks like you might be able to name each of your loadouts, which will make swapping between them during matches much easier, since you won't have to remember which combination was in slot three vs. slot five. So there's that.
There aren’t any screens for weapons or grenades, so no real updates on that front. However, we do get a look at the following seven armor abilities in the above image:
- Autosentry - Thanks to the description, we know that this ability “is an automated turret which can be deployed to defend the wearer or command a busy battlefield checkpoint.”
- Promethean Vision - Ability to see enemies through walls
- Regeneration Field - Sounds like it could be a combination of the Bubble Shield and Regenerator
- Hologram - Returns from Halo: Reach, but unclear if it works exactly the same way
- Hardlight Shield - A possible upgrade to the Bubble Shield?
- Active Camouflage - A Halo staple at this point that will most likely function similarly to previous games
- Thruster Pack - Sounds like the new jetpack, but it could also double as a sprint booster
The next screen shows the following six tactical packages, which look to be akin to support perks:
- Firepower - According to the description, this allows the player to carry two primary weapons.
- Resupply - Sounds like your standard drop ammo ability
- Grenadier - Perhaps this gives you an extra slot to hold a third grenade type or access to a unique grenade type
- Awareness - Guessing this affects your radar and shows you enemy positions
- Shielding - Could this be the return of the overshield?
- AA Efficiency - Might stand for “Armor Abilities Efficiency” in which case it could mean your armor abilities use up less energy or they recharge faster
The humorously blurry gameplay video apparently also shows the new railgun in action, but it’s pretty much impossible to tell how much damage it deals or what it really looks like in action, so squinting is your best bet at this point.
So a solid bit of speculative material to hold over Halo fans until E3 next week when hopefully we’ll be given a much, much, much clearer look at what 343 Industries has planned for Halo 4.
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- Autosentry - Thanks to the description, we know that this ability “is an automated turret which can be deployed to defend the wearer or command a busy battlefield checkpoint.”
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Oops! Somebody's going to get chewed out at Sony today, following an accidental posting on the European PlayStation Blog that outed a June 4, 2012 launch for EA's previously rumored Battlefield Premium subscription service (via Joystiq). The post also confirms that Battlefield 3's 'Close Quarters' DLC will arrive on the same day.
There's pricing too, though not for North America. The European/Australian pricing for Battlefield Premium comes out to £39.99/€49.99/AU$79.99 and the DLC is priced at £11.99/€14.99/AU$23.95. The offending post has since been removed, but nothing ever fully disappears once it's made public on the Internet. June 4 also happens to be the day of EA's E3 2012 press conference. Coincidence? I think not.
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id Software's classic returns this autumn with hours of all-new content.
Bethesda has announced that Doom 3 BFG Edition is on the way to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC later this year.
Set for release this autumn, the game will feature completely re-mastered versions of Doom 3 and the Resurrection of Evil add-on pack, as well as "hours of new content" in the form of seven new levels entitled 'The Lost Mission', plus the original Doom and Doom 2.
Its release will mark the first time a Doom game has ever launched on PS3.
According to the press release: "This genre defining game and its add-on pack offers greatly enhanced graphics, deeply immersing the player in the demonic world of this terrifying horror masterpiece.
"Players will also experience a never-before-seen single-player story, The Lost Mission featuring seven heart-pounding levels that will once again have them on the edge of their seats."
The game has been optimised in 3D and feature 5.1 surround sound, Achievements and Trophies, improved rendering and lighting, plus a new checkpoint save system.
"id Software has fine-tuned the controls to bring the intensity of the Doom single and multiplayer experience to the consoles, and Doom 3 now features the new armour-mounted flashlight, allowing players to illuminate dark corners and blast enemies at the same time," the announcement adds.
id Software technical director John Carmack said: "Doom 3 was enthusiastically embraced by gamers worldwide at its release. Today, the full experience has been enhanced and extended to be better than ever, and is delivered across all the platforms with a silky smooth frame rate and highly responsive controls. New support for 3D TVs, monitors, and head mounted displays also allows players to experience the game with more depth than ever before. We think shooter fans everywhere will love it."
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Apple CEO Tim Cook recently shot down earlier talk that the company is interested in a foray into the home console business.
Speaking to reporters at the D10 conference, Cook said, "I'm not interested in being in the console business in what is thought of as traditional gaming. But Apple is a big player today, and things in the future will only make that bigger."
This spring, it was rumored that Apple would release its own home console this year, and there was also a report that Cook visited Valve possibly related to a console partnership. Valve denied that the visit occurred.
Of course, Apple is already involved in gaming via the iOS platform, and if you want to split hairs, you could scrutinize Cook's use of the word "traditional" if you want to speculate further.
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Reddit user and BestBuy employee Sfspectre just shared a picture of the awesome pre-order pack available to those who Pre-Order Halo 4 from BestBuy along with a $5 deposit:
(Check Theorix post for the Original thread, sorry for double posting no idea haha, should check more often
)http://www.343indust...cted-retailers/
Hopefully a UK retailer manages to secure this too as BestBuy UK shut down earlier in the year. ShopTo have yet to announce their pre-order incentive so maybe they've secured it, I'll update as soon as there's word.
It's an awesome print and would look fantastic framed, so it would be a real shame if it remains US exclusive.
Also pictured is a Halo 4 standee designed to promote existing Halo games in the run up to Halo 4 launch:
Weirdly there's no sign of Halo 3.. bizarre.
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"47 percent share of the current-generation console market," claims MS
Microsoft has sold 67 million Xbox 360 consoles since its launch in 2005, it has confirmed.
This, it says, accounts for a "47 percent share of the current-generation console market", according to the platform holder.
Despite heavy criticism over a lack of quality games, Kinect has also done well, with 19 million sold, which MS says has been a success for Xbox. 360 has generated more than $56 billion at retail for the company, it said, but it isn't done yet.
Chief marketing officer of MS' Interactive Entertainment Division, Yusuf Mehdi, says the firm has big plans for Xbox as an entertainment hub and with Windows 8 integration.
"With the launch of Windows 8, we'll bring Xbox entertainment to everyone. With Xbox on Windows 8 devices, we rapidly accelerate the reach of Xbox entertainment from more than 60 million people to hundreds of millions of people worldwide," he said.
"We've got ideas for making all the entertainment you love more personal, interactive and social across the devices you love-and on the phenomenal Windows 8 devices that are to come.
"You'll see the first of that next week at E3 where we will showcase the very best of Xbox. We'll unveil new games, show new ways to enjoy the entertainment you love and, as always, we'll have a few surprises to share."
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Last month American author John Beiswenger sued Ubisoft with claims that the company flat-out stole ideas from his novel, Link, and repurposed them for the Assassin’s Creed series. Today we have confirmation that Beiswenger is backing off. For now.
In Link, a machine known as the Link device is used to witness points of history through the eyes of those that experienced it. Link’s plot also involves assassinations, religious themes, and historical ancestors. These similarities didn’t sit well with the author, but a solution has been found.
Gametrailers was also caught up in the legal mess for publishing Assassin’s Creed trailers, and they decided to settle with Beiswenger out of court. In the aftermath of the settlement, Beiswenger decided to halt his pursuit of damages from Ubisoft. We contacted Beiswenger’s lawyer, Kelly Clements Keller of the Keller Law Firm, who confirmed, “The claims against Gametrailers have been settled and the claims against Ubisoft have been dismissed, without prejudice.”
While he's no longer pursuing his claims against Ubisoft, Beiswenger still believes his copyrighted work was infringed upon by Ubisoft and is free to press further charges in the future. In a press release, Keller made the following statement:
“My client’s decision to exercise his right to voluntarily dismiss the action, without prejudice, in no way diminishes his stalwart conviction in the merit of his claims against Ubisoft. He is unwavering in his belief that many key components of the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise infringe on many key components of his novel, Link. We believe Ubisoft has engaged in egregious acts of copyright infringement and, should he choose to seek redress through the courts in the future, we remain confident that a trier of fact would agree.”
Has anybody read Link? If you have, sound off in the comments below with your thoughts on any similarities.
[source: Gamesta]
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THQ have announced that their former executive vice president of Core Games, Danny Bilson, has stepped down from his position and Naughty Dog's co-founder Jason Rubin will be replacing him. Rubin will be responsible for all of THQ’s worldwide product development, marketing, and publishing and report directly to chairman and CEO of THQ, Brian Farrell.
“Jason’s proven track record in the industry speaks for itself, and he is one of the brightest minds in the business,” said Brian Farrell. “We believe he can be a game changer and can contribute immensely to executing on our strategy of delivering quality connected core game experiences.
Additionally, the senior vice president of Core Studios, Dave Davis, is leaving THQ. Bilson, Davis, and the rest of the Core Games group at THQ were responsible for the comapny's recent rebranding from a licensed-game publisher to a developing and publishing one. Farrell had this to say about their departure.
“Danny has made significant contributions to THQ, and we thank him for his efforts. Along with Danny, Dave has been instrumental in getting our strong pipeline into production.”
Moving ahead, THQ is poised to continue delivering core games, and with Rubin at the helm, the ship could be setting sail towards a rich future. We'll have to wait and see.
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To celebrate X-Play's upcoming "Top 100 video games of all time" shows, we want you to pick your own personal five must-have games, so we made an app.
Here's how it works:
- Log in to Facebook
- Go to our Top 5 Games App
- Pick your favorite games from our massive database
- Sit back in satisfaction and happiness, knowing you've done a great job.
This is all leading up to X-Play's "Top 100 Games of all Time" shows, in which Jack Black, Aisha Tyler, Robin Williams, Danny Pudi, Paul Scheer, Cliff Bleszinski, Elijah Wood, Felicia Day, and many more people-of-note celebrate the 100 greatest games ever made. It starts on June 11 at 8/7c and continues all week until June 15 8/7c, only on G4. Don't you dare miss it.
- Log in to Facebook
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In what will surely be the first of many awards for Halo 4, it has scooped one of the 2012 Into The Pixel awards for outstanding videogame artistry.
"Into The Pixel is a testament to the artistry and creative vision of our industry’s innovators and remarkable talent, we congratulate the selected artists for achieving their creative vision and having that talent recognized by their peers.”Halo won for this piece called "Spire Vista" by John Wallin Liberto:
Other winners include Journey, Assassin's Creed III, Skullgirls and Guild Wars II, I recommend having a look at the gallery over at IntoThePixel.com
There will be a gallery of the winners at E3 next week.
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Microsoft has revealed a new Xbox 360 bundle for racing fans that comes with a copy of Forza 4.
The console itself is a standard black slim with a 250GB hard drive inside it, and comes with the game a Wireless Racing Wheel.
Priced at $299 - the standard price of a 250GB machine - you're essentially getting the game and wheel free (as seen on the pictured packaging).
The "limited edition" bundle will hit "participating retailers" in mid-June.
The offer comes as the 360 logs its 16th consecutive month as best-selling console in the States.
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At the same time you were grilling hamburgers and hotdogs over Memorial Day, Activision and the Call of Duty creators were taking the weekend to prepare to grill each other ahead of this Friday’s Call of Duty lawsuit in Los Angeles State Superior Court. That’s where a jury will begin to hear the biggest video game lawsuit to reach trial, with parties seeking $1 billion in damages. Former Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West as well as dozens of ex-Infinity Ward employees are suing Activision for owed royalties, wrongful termination and the rights to the Modern Warfare franchise. Countersuing the pair is Activision. The top video game publisher alleges insubordination and breaches of contract on the parts of Zampella and West.
There’s a lot of information and legal jargon to take in, and between MW3's Collection 2 DLC and all of the Black Ops 2 news, you may not have read every post in G4’s lengthy Fall of Duty series. To bring you up to speed on the soap opera of Soap’s creator’s, here is a quick time guide to the Call of Duty lawsuit.
The Who
Vince Zampella and Jason West are publishing their next game under Electronic Arts, but that’s today. Let’s go to the beginning of the timeline - ten years ago. Back then, Zampella and West were publishing a game under... Electronic Arts. Not much has changed, right? Of course, back in 2002, they were part of Oklahoma-based developer 2015, Inc. and bringing to life EA’s critically acclaimed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Once that WWII FPS game launched, however, Zampella and West set up shop in California as Infinity Ward. With almost two dozen former 2015, Inc. employees and funding from Activision in exchange for a 30 percent stake in the new company, Infinity Ward released Call of Dutyfor the PC in 2003.
The success of the first Call of Duty spurred Activision to buy up the rest of Infinity Ward. The Encino, California-based developer went on to create the PC and Xbox 360 launch game Call of Duty 2 in 2005,Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009, and each one sold better than the last. In fact, MW2 became what Activision likes to tout as “the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment.” Call of Duty: Black Ops and MW3 have since surpassed this record, but MW2 was the first, and that is important in this case.
The Why
It took MW2 only five days to make $550 million in sales in 2009. Activision, Zampella and West hit the video game jackpot - only this trio began acting like one of those lottery-winning families in which cracks began to emerge. We now know that their rocky relationship dates back to when MW2 was still in demo form, as documented by May 2009 e-mails that were revealed in pre-trial hearings. The LA Timesfollowed exchanges in which Activision’s president of publishing, Mike Griffith, emailed Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, telling him that West and Zampella “hung up on me” when he had asked them for a live demo of MW2 for an upcoming press conference. Kotick’s reply was interesting. "If they really did I would change their locks and lock them out of their building."
Was this a bit of foreshadowing, perhaps? Fast-forward to March 1, 2010, three months after MW2’s launch. That’s pretty much what happened as G4TV.com broke the news about the Zempella and West’s firings. The two were missing following a meeting with Activision, and a “bunch of bouncer-types" showed up at the Infinity Ward offices, creating a tense work environment.
Zampella and West immediately filed a lawsuit against Activision, claiming that they were terminated “weeks” before the publisher was scheduled to pay them MW2 royalties. Also, part of the lawsuit is “the contractual rights Activision granted to West and Zampella to control Modern Warfare-branded games." According to a recently uncovered internal Activision document, the projected bonuses amount to $13 million each for Zampella and West on top of their base salaries of $436,800. What happened to that money? G4TV picked up on a 2010 comment by Activision social media manager Dan Amrich in which he told an anti-Activision Facebook group that “those bonuses are being redistributed to everybody else, to the people who did not allegedly attempt to steal company secrets."
Activision v. Zampella and West
The last part is Activision’s basis for a countersuit. At first, the company responded to accusations very simply, saying that Zampella and West’s lawsuit was a disappointment. A month later, Activision filed alawsuit against the ex-Infinity Ward studio heads. According to the complaint, the developer pair "morphed from valued, responsible executives into insubordinate and self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain."
Activision’s countersuit went into detail, describing an alleged rendezvous Zampella and West had with a rival video game company. The counterargument says that the pair went "on a secret trip by private jet to Northern California, arranged by their Hollywood agent [West and Zampella are now represented by the powerful Creative Arts Agency], to meet with the most senior executives of Activision's closest competitor."
Electronic Arts was later ousted as this “closest competitor.” Indeed, after being fired, Zampella and West ended up announcing a new studio, Respawn Entertainment, in partnership with EA. They ended up taking 38 former Infinity Ward employees with them over the course of several months and have been teasing a new sci-fi video game franchise (with the blurry image seen below) slated for release in 2013. The deal for this unannounced title gives the developer pair funding through the EA Partners Program and the rights to all of the intellectual property. In exchange, EA gets a brand new franchise that can compete with Halo and Gears of War. Whether or not Zampella and West conspired with EA prior to their dismissal by Activision is up to a jury to decide.
Almost Activision v. Zampella, West and Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts was roped into the lawsuit in December 2010, when Activision implicated its chief rival, alleging that Zampella, West and EA “conspired in a scheme to harm Activision.” The publisher claims that the agent for Zampella and West wrote an email in which he said, “I’m stoked about your options,” and in an apparent reference to EA’s John Riccitiello, “JR cooks a mean BBQ. I think we could accomplish some interesting chaos.” [emphasis added]
Activision’s expanded lawsuit also used the words of Electronic Arts spokesperson Jeff Brown against EA. Referring to the Call of Duty MW2 DLC pack release date (March 30) and EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 release date (March 2), Brown wrote in an email, "A couple months ago, I asked Vince [Zampella] to hold back their map pack until after we launched (he owes me one).” Brown said that this email, sent with the subject “The Fall of IW?” days after the Infinity Ward firings, was just a joke. “This was obviously sarcasm.”
This one won’t be for a jury to decide. <a href= >Electronic Arts settled with Activision on March 16 of this year, meaning their legal battle loomed for almost 17 months. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The Zampella and West v. Activision case has been going on for more than two years now and will finally come to a head at the end of this week.
Infinity Ward Employees Group v. Activision
Even if Activision wins its June case against Zampella and West, the publisher may be right back in an LA courtroom defending itself against more former Infinity Ward employees. There are 38 former Infinity Ward developers suing Activision for between $75 million and $120 million in damages as part of the lawsuit Infinity Ward Employees Group v. Activision. That amount includes unpaid bonuses, lost value of restricted stock, royalties from MW2 sister games (including MW3) and interest.
This month, Activision
Where and When
Zampella and West v. Activision will take place at the downtown Los Angeles Superior Court. The “where” has stayed the same since the inception of the case. The “when,” however, has been moved due to various delays. Back in September 2011, the case was scheduled to go to court on May 7, 2012. That day came and went after Activision requested a postponement of the trial’s start. All of a sudden May 29 was the new day. Activision asked for an additional 30 days to prepare a newly hired attorney, but was denied that motion on May 16. Between then and now, however, the trial received one more delay, from May 29 to new expected date of June 1. The reason for the two-day bump, according toPolygon, was because of extended jury selection.
The good news is that once this jury trial does get started, the Call of Duty lawsuit verdict everyone has been waiting for shouldn’t be too far behind. Polygon quotes Judge Elihu Berle as saying, "It shouldn't take 20 days to try this case. It's not that complicated."
No Quick Time Event
With more than two years of litigation, this hasn’t been anything like a straightforward, six-hour Call of Duty campaign mode. Zampella and West v. Activision is more like a confusing and endless game of multiplayer in which it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. It’s just not that clear cut, even with all of the disclosed documents and private communications. And with $1 billion on the line, it’s hard to say that the verdict doesn’t matter.
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Amazon has launched their instant streaming app on the Xbox 360 today. PS3 owners have been enjoying the video app since April. Beginning today, May 29, Amazon Prime users will be able to stream over 17,000 videos instantly. Prime and regular Amazon users will be able to purchase from a library of 12,000 movies and TV episodes.
The Xbox 360 version of the Amazon app does have Kinect funtionality. Yes, you'll be able to yell commands like "Xbox Play" and "Xbox Stop" at your TV.
The Amazon app is only available for Xbox Live Gold accounts. For more information, check outAmazon.
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One thing i think: Information about Dead Space 3 Perhaps?
Something i want: Information on Diablo 3 DLC.
Oh yeah Diablo 3 dlc would be cool. I hope they release more information on the new gen consoles. There is obviously one in the making and they can't deny that. Also, i want to see if there's any trailer, art or more musical pieces from Halo 4 in E3.
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Activision and Radical Entertainment's Prototype 2 is continuing to add new DLC content to the game. Today, the Excessive Force DLC pack gives gamers a new weapon, some custom skins, and three cool force multiplier powers.
Here's the complete list:
Weapon
- Viral Infector Grenade Launcher
- Force Multiplier Powers
- Shockwave
- Chaos Creator Mode
- Medusa's Wrath
- Custom Skins
- Armored Heller
- Agile Armor Alex Mercer
- Zombie Mercer
You can watch all the new items in action in the trailer posted below. The Excessive Force DLC releases today for $4.99 on PSN and 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live.
For more on Prototype 2, check out our full review of the game.
- Viral Infector Grenade Launcher
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Very nice interview once again Drizzy.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_aACzkf6Ts&feature=g-all-u
Ubisoft has sent over a pre-E3 teaser trailer for Far Cry 3.
A full Far Cry 3 reveal will take place during the publisher's E3 press conference, which you'll be able to watch live
on June 4 at 11pm GMT.
Last week Ubisoft revealed the Far Cry 3 Insane Edition. Set for release in the UK on September 7 alongside the standalone version of the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC game, the collector's edition will include almost two hours of additional gameplay, weapon unlocks, a hints and tips guide and more.
Ubi also plans to run a Far Cry 3 multiplayer beta on consoles this summer.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/349669/far-cry-3-gets-pre-e3-teaser-trailer/
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ZeniMax Media, the company responsible for publishing Bethesda’s legendary The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, has filed a trademark for what may be another piece of DLC. The name of the trademark is Hearth Fire, which is likely a reference to a skill book in Skyrim of the same name.
The skill book’s full name is 2920, vol 09 – Hearth Fire, which boosts players’ conjuration skill. Conjuration magic allows players to summon spectral allies and weapons. Could Heath Fire be a DLC add-on focusing on this arcane art?
For now we’ll have to sit on our questions, and continue looking forward to the only confirmed Skyrim DLC, Dawnguard.
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Hello and welcome to 343i community forums.
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Very cool signature.
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the "unannounced next gen title" is call of duty.... cool but i see nothing that is notable.
Yeah but gives more proof that the next gen console is coming very soon.
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Modern Warfare 3 developer Infinity Ward has started work on an unannounced game for next-gen consoles.
So reveals a job listing from the studio, which is searching for a senior network engineer for the game."Come work with the game industry's brightest to design and implement high level network code for an exciting unannounced title for next generation console systems," says the listing.
There are no further hints except that it's looking for a candidate that has an "interest in games, preferably first person shooters". No surprises there, then.
Given Infinity Ward and Treyarch's current turn-taking annual release cycles, Call of Duty fans will be expecting IW's next game in November 2013. This would suggest - should that cycle continue - that Activision expects Sony and/or Microsoft's next-generation consoles by the end of next year.
[ Source: Activision job listing ]
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With Diablo III out for nearly two weeks now, millions of players around the world are storming Sanctuary and joining the battle against the Burning Hells. At the same time, we continue to work around the clock to make sure you have an epic online gaming experience.
As more and more players begin to perfect their character builds and progress into Diablo III’s higher difficultly levels, some of the most prominent feedback lately has been about game balance and design, and that’s what we’re here to talk about today. As with any new game, gameplay issues are inevitable, and we hear a lot of feedback regarding what‘s balanced, what’s not, and everything else in between. We recently made some decisions to adjust (or outright nerf) a few class skills, and today we wanted to explain our overall philosophy on design changes -- as well as give some insight into some more changes that are coming up.
Before we get to that, though, we thought it'd be fun to share a few interesting stats we've collected since Diablo III's release:
- On average players have created 3 characters each
- 80% of characters are between levels 1 and 30
- 1.9% of characters have unlocked Inferno difficulty
- 54% of Hardcore players chose a female character
- The majority of Hardcore deaths (35%) occur in Act I Normal
- The most common level 60 build in the game is only used by 0.7% of level 60 characters of that class (not including Passive diversity)
- The most used runes for each class at level 60 are Barbarian: Best Served Cold, Demon Hunter: Lingering Fog, Wizard: Mirror Skin, Monk: Peaceful Repose, Witch Doctor: Numbing Dart
When it comes to making game changes, in general, our intent is to react quickly to critical design and balance issues, bugs, and other problems that seriously conflict with our design intent through hotfixes. For issues which aren’t as severely out of line, we plan to react in a more measured fashion -- through client patches. We have a patch coming within the next week (patch 1.0.2) that has been in development since the game’s launch and is mainly aimed at addressing service issues. The first real game balance changes, outside of hotfixes, will be coming in patch 1.0.3. We expect that because the game is new, some other issues will arise that will need to be immediately addressed through hotfixes, but in general, most changes will arrive through patches.
Regarding the changes to Lingering Fog, Boon of Protection, and Force Armor: we determined these skills were simply more powerful than they should be, and we felt their impact on class balance and how each class was perceived warranted hotfixes as soon as we were able. However, we don't want you to be worried that a hotfix nerf is lurking around the corner every day. If a skill is strong, but isn't really breaking the game, we want you to have your fun. Part of the enjoyment of Diablo is finding those super-strong builds, and we want players to be excited to use something they discovered that feels overpowered. A good example of this is the monk Overawe rune, which many players have identified as being quite good. We agree it's good, but we don't think it's so far out of line that we're going to swoop in and hotfix it out of existence.
Inferno is intended to be extremely difficult, but with some specific skills, a few classes were simply able to progress far more easily than intended. This made the classes, which were about where they were supposed to be, seem very underpowered. It also created the perception that the classes doing well were intended to rely on specific runes in all their builds, and the other classes were just broken. This is the opposite of what’s true. If any single skill or rune feels absolutely required to progress, it means that skill is working against our goal of encouraging build diversity -- and those “required” skills need to be corrected. We know these hotfixes snuck up on people, and it took us a day or so to communicate that they had gone live. However, our intent moving forward is that when there are circumstances where a hotfix is necessary, we’ll communicate changes that could impact your ability to play your class through ‘Upcoming Changes’ posts in the General forum. Ideally, we’ll let you know as soon as we even have the idea that we want to make that kind of change.
That said, we also wanted to let you know we’re keeping a close eye on Inferno. The intent of incoming damage is that it should be a very consistent drain on your health, and mitigating that drain is a major part of what makes Inferno mode difficult. Right now, there’s a lot more damage “spikiness” occurring than feels right, and that’s one major area we’re looking to adjust in patch 1.0.3. While we don’t have any specifics yet, our design goals are to support and promote build diversity; continue to ensure that a mix of champion packs, rare packs, and boss fights are the most efficient way to acquire the best items in the game; and ensure that all classes are viable in Inferno.
From a high-level perspective, we think a more fundamentally fun way to approach difficulty in Inferno isn't seeing how much incoming damage you can avoid or mitigate, but rather to see how efficient you can be while voluntarily taking on a challenge that pushes you. For anybody who's ever died because they chased a Treasure Goblin too aggressively, you know what we mean; dying because you got greedy or overconfident can actually be a lot of fun. Now that the skills mentioned above have been brought more in line, we’ll be keeping a close eye on balance.
We've also seen some people saying our intention with Inferno is just one-shot you to make it difficult. While damage is a bit spikier than we'd like, we're actually seeing a pretty significant number of people attempting Inferno without sufficient gear. There's a good chance that returning to the previous Act to farm upgrades will do the most to help you survive. That said, we’d like to shift some of the focus away from survival and more toward using a variety of offensive tactics to succeed. Survival will still be important, but finding ways to maximize your damage while staying alive is more exciting. We’re not particularly concerned with whether or not a boss is “beatable,” though it should feel epic and challenging to defeat it. We’re more concerned with ensuring that acquiring 5 stacks of Nephalem Valor and taking on as many Champions and Rares as you can remains the most challenging and rewarding way to play.
On to items! One of the biggest pieces of feedback we’ve received regarding items is the relative power of Legendaries. This isn’t a simple issue to address, as it involves some intentional design decisions as well as expectations built by other games. First and foremost, Legendary items are not designed to necessarily be the best items in the game. They’re just one additional type of item as you level up, and they are not meant to be the primary items you’re chasing at the end-game. They can -- and should -- be exciting to find, but they’re not supposed to serve as the single driving force of the item hunt. Rare items, for example, have the possibility to roll up “perfect” stats that can, if you’re lucky, outpace the predetermined stats of a Legendary. That’s by design.
One problem we’ve seen -- and intend to correct quickly -- is players comparing high-level Magic (blue) items to lower-level Legendary items as “proof” of an imbalance. To help correct misconceptions of the actual stat budgets allocated to items, we’ll be exposing item levels (ilvl) of 60+ items in patch 1.0.3. Comparing an ilvl 63 blue to an ilvl 60 Legendary will hopefully make a bit more sense afterward. In addition, we’re planning to just straight-out buff Legendary items in a future patch, likely the PvP patch (1.1). These buffs will not be retroactive, and so they’ll only apply to new Legendary items found after the patch. In the long term, we’re looking at simply expanding the affix diversity and unique bonuses of Legendary items, and we’ll be able to share more details after the PvP patch.
Other areas of concern have been both the gem combination system and Blacksmith leveling and crafting costs. The intent, especially with the Blacksmith, is that he’s leveling with you, you’re able to use him as an alternate source for upgrades. Our design goal is that once you get to level 60, his recipes are actually good enough to help fill a character’s potential itemization gaps. To correct these issues, we’re looking to adjust the Blacksmith costs for training (gold and pages) and crafting from levels 1-59, and reduce the cost of combining gems so that it only requires two gems instead of three (up to Flawless Square). Both of these changes are scheduled for patch 1.0.3.
Of course, these are just a few of the more prominent issues we wanted to let you know we’re working on. In addition, we’ll be addressing a number of specific game bugs and other issues through future hotfixes and patches. We’re going full steam ahead on the PvP patch, which will also include a number of game changes unrelated to PvP, and we look forward to sharing more about that as we get closer to opening up a PTR, where you’ll be able to test out our changes -- and enjoy mercilessly slaughtering one another in the PvP arena.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6018173/Game_Design_Update-5_28_2012#blog
- On average players have created 3 characters each
Epic Games 'victorious' in Silicon Knights lawsuit
in Halo & Gaming Industry News
Posted
Mark Rein claims jury verdict went against Denis Dyack "on all counts"
Epic Games has emerged victorious in its protracted lawsuit against Silicon Knights, an executive at the company has said.
Mark Rein, the vice president of sales at the Unreal Engine vendor, has claimed that a Jury in a North Carolina court "finds for Epic on all counts".
CVG is attempting to clarify the claim with Silicon Knights.
Epic Games also counter-sued Silicon Knights in the complex legal case. Rein's claim, which was posted on his personal Twitter account, suggest that the Jury also favoured Epic specifically in the suit against Silicon Knights
In 2007 Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack alleged that Epic had failed to provide the Ontario studio with a game engine that it had originally been pitched. Dyack also claimed that the protracted and expensive development of Too Human was due to his studio's decision to abandon Unreal Engine 3.
Silicon Knights went on to build its own tech, which it claimed was proprietary, to finish Too Human. Epic countersued Dyack's company for plagiarising Unreal tech when building its new engine.