Nothing but the biggest news stories in gaming today!

Sunday
Nov202011

Trailer Round-Up - Week Of 14th November 2011 - Battlefield 3, Serious Sam 3 and SSX

Trailer Of The Week goes to Battlefield 3. I know, I know, the game is out already, but this trailer is kick ass and shows off exclusively the multiplayer, which is the game's best part by far. If you haven't tried it yet, maybe this trailer will atleast make you think about it. It was a good week for trailers, not in terms of quantity, but quality in spades.

Battlefield 3 - Strike At Karkand

Seriously, how does this not make you wanna buy the game immediately???

Saints Row: The Third - Mind-controlling, Explosive Baby Octopus Launcher

You read that right....

Serious Sam 3: BFE - Paint The Town Red

This looks insanely fun! I'm on board!

Syndicate - Co-op Trailer

They're not fucking around with Syndicate, game looks like it could be seriously good!

SSX - It's Still Tricky

Glad they abandoned that serious take on SSX, just give us avalanches and flips and we're a happy bunch.

Friday
Nov182011

Daily News - 18th November 2011 - Skyrim, Xbox Cloud Saves and 3DS DLC

Skyrim Ships 7 Million Units In 1 Week. That's A Lot.

Chances are if you're reading this right now, you either think Skyrim is awesome, or know somebody who thinks Skyrim is awesome. The game has received absolutely massive amounts of critical and commercial praise and adverts for the game are on TV frequently. All of this has contributed to the biggest launch ever for a Bethesda game, with the game shipping out 7 million units to retailers already. Now obviously not all of those will have been sold yet, but Bethesda estimate a 50% sale rate so far, which equals a heck of a lot of money. And rightfully so! The 20 hours I've played so far haven't disappointed, so it's great to see the game doing well. Robert Altman, ZeniMax CEO, said in the announcement:

"We are grateful for the fans' response to Skyrim. Todd Howard and his team at Bethesda Game Studios have crafted a very special game. Anticipation for Skyrim has surpassed any game in our company's history, and we are pleased that sales and reviews have reflected the quality and hours of amazing gameplay it provides."

Always nice to see games get the sales they deserve.

Ice Troll is happy!

Cloud Saves Coming To Xbox Live, But Only If You're Gold

We finally have a few more details about the Xbox getting Cloud saves, it was alluded to at E3 but there were no hard details until now, and it's pretty much what you'd want. For those of you who don't know, Cloud saving is where your game save information is stored on an online server, and linked to your account, letting you load one of you saves up from anywhere. Well, now your Xbox saves will be transportable to the Cloud, so you can pick up a game on a friend's console, or a new one if you have to replace your Xbox. also getting transferred to the Cloud, finnaly, will be your Gamertag, meaning no more having to "recover your tag" if something goes wrong (it was a pain in the bum bum). The feature will come in the next Dashboard update, along with advanced Facebook integration (posting achievements to my Facebook wall? Gimme!!!). Expect the update early next year.

Well now I'm genuinely excited for the update!

Nintendo Starting On DLC. Well, Sort Of...

Nintendo's 3DS E-Shop is already the most robust online service on a Nintendo console, offering Virtual Console games, downloadable 3DS games, video trailers and soon to add demos. Granted, all those featured are nothing new to games, with Xbox Live and PSN offering the same style services for years, but an absolute first for Nintendo will be when the company allows the inclusion of micro-transactions in upcoming system uopdate. The update will allow DLC to become a reality on a Nintendo console, but Nintendo Of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, has come out and said they will only do so on Nintendo games, if they know they are releasing a full product at the game's launch:

"When we sell a game, we want the consumer to feel that they've had a complete experience. We're unwilling to sell a piece of a game upfront and, if you will, force a consumer to buy more later. That's what they don't want to do, and I completely agree. I think the consumer wants to get, for their money, a complete experience, and then we have opportunities to provide more on top of that."

DLC seems to be getting a little out of hand, especially after the Catwoman content was recently left off the disc at the last second to encourage less 2nd hand sales. I think if anyone can stick to their guns on DLC, it's Nintendo, they know how to make a game without the need for a day 1 patch.

He'll kill you with it. He don't give a fuck. He crazy!

And finally...

I reviewed Battlefield 3 yesterday. It took me a while to write it (I actually HAD a review written then decided to completely redo the whole thing) so if you missed it then take a look!

Battlefield 3 Review

____________________

Tuesday
Nov152011

Daily News - 15th November 2011 - Halo, 3DS and Battlefield 3

Be A Part Of Halo's "Living Monument"

As part of the promotion for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, A new website has launched, letting it's users insert their face on a munument to Master Chief, the universe's main hero. Just go to the Living Monument's website and give them a picture of yourself... or a penis, if you like, and theoretically live forever! The game comes out Friday.

America Gets A Sexy 3DS For Thanksgiving, And So Do We!

A sexy new 3DS bundle is on it's way, featuring Ocarina Of Time 3D and the console itself, dressed in a saucy little Zelda-themed number that makes me properly jealous. The bundle will come out in America on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day on the year, and we get it on the 25th november. Look at it, it's so damn sexy!

I think I wanna lick it...

Battlefield 3 Users Getting Banned For Exploiting Multiplayer

So far the ban toll is in the hundreds, with guilty accounts getting their stats wiped and not being allowed to play the game anymore. The official Battlefield Twitter account had the following to say in 140 characters or less:

"This week we've banned hundreds of offending accounts and have stats-wiped accounts for exploiting (such as boosting). We are working on banning as many people as we can as quickly as we can. We have a zero tolerance policy for cheating."

It's not totally clear what the exploit is, but IGN reckon it's for crazy shit like this:

Sunday
Nov132011

Trailer Round-Up - Week of 7th November 2011 - Skyrim, Saints Row: The Third and Assassin's Creed

Trailer Of The Week goes to Skyrim. The game's out already, and chances are you have it already, but the trailer's tour around the expansive world of Skyrim is awesome.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The Scenery Of Skyrim

Such a gorgeously designed game

L.A. Noire - Coming To PC

PC players finally get a chance to experience officer Cole's object rotating powers.

Rayman: Origins - Misfits Decide Our Fate

The animation in the game looks great, such a pretty looking game!

Saints Row: The Third - Surf On A Hoverjet

Insanity in the best way possible

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection - A Snake History Lesson

Don't know Snake yet? You will.

Planetside 2 - Your Tools Of Destruction

Planetside 2 is probably anticipated by someone.... right?

Rainbow Six: Patriots - Concept Trailer

A new Rainbow Six should have alot of people foaming at the mouth.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations - Launch Trailer

Don't forget about your Assassin's Creed game amongst this mega-release month.

 

Friday
Nov112011

Daily News - 11th November 2011 - God Of War 4, Modern Warfare 3 and More!

God Of War 4 Is A Thing That's Happening

So it appears that soon, we will be subjected to quite a bit more of Kratos' ultimate hatred for all things that exist, as an unnamed retailer is alleged to have listed the 4th game in the series for a September 2012 release, complete with logo! (Which for me, gives this rumour some actual weight) I hear that God Of War 3 ended with, well, let's just say, not too many gods left (unsurprisingly!) so it will be interesting to see who Kratos' targets are, but either way alot of people are gonna be really happy at this announcement, me included!

Looks legit to me!

Call Of Duty Elite Having Some Trouble

Call Of Duty Elite, the service Activision hope you will sink your money into to become better at Call Of duty's multiplayer, has had a bit of a rocky start. The service wasn't available on day one, and since then demand for the service has meant that it hasn't been at all stable, being intermittent at best. Activision say that they intend to have it up and running properly soon, and that as a sorry, all subscribers will get a free extra added 30 days of membership. Better than nothing.

Get better! For money! But not right now.... they're working on it

Steam's Forums And More Hacked

Steam's forums were hacked a few days ago. It didn't seem like a huge deal at the time, but Gabe Newell sent out a letter yesterday that it may have been a bit more thorough than we first anticipated:

"We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums. This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. [though obviously, keep an eye out!] While we only know of a few forum accounts that have been compromised, all forum users will be required to change their passwords the next time they login. If you have used your Steam forum password on other accounts you should change those passwords as well.

We are not planning to force a change of Steam account passwords, however, it wouldn't be a bad idea to change that as well, especially if it is the same as your Steam forum account password. I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience."

So maybe change your Steam password and keep a cheeky eye on your bank account. Darn hackers, of all the people to pick on, why Valve? They're so awesome!

You can't see it, but Bald Guy is crying

Star Trek Online Finally Going Free In January

Free MMOs, is one of my favourite trends of this year so far, I love free things and I love levelling up. Know what else I love? Fucking spaceships! So Star Trek Online going free-to-play is a pretty good thing in my eyes. Not long to wait now either, as in January the S.S Banter will emerge from it's spaceport to whip some Borg ass! Yessssssssssss!

Oh god yes! Give it to me!!

Wednesday
Nov092011

Daily News - 9th November 2011 - Bioware, Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 3

Bioware Tease Next Game During The VGA's

The VGAs are one of only a few video game related award shows, so it makes sense that some announcements could be held until them, to give the event a little more relevence. One such announcement came at the hands of Bioware, who released a cheeky little teaser image for their next game during the awards. The image gives basically nothing away, but the tone is seperate from anything they've done in the past. Looks interesting.

Is it a racing game? Shoot-em-up? Puzzle collection?!? Who knows!

Heavy Rain All-in-one Edition Coming Very, Very Soon

Heavy Rain was a game I was very jealous I didn't get a chance to play. Even though I haven't played Indigo Propecy, the thought of experiencing a game the way Heavy Rain made you experience it, was something I really wanted to try for myself. Well now maybe I'll get my chance, with a special edition of the game that includes the extra downloadable game add-on and Move support right our of the box, and for probably about £25. That's a damn good deal, especially if you wait a few weeks and pick it up for half that price. Lucky PS3 owners!

That's a great "Sadness Beard", it really is!

Mass Effect 3 Spoilers Appear On The Internet, Scare Me To Death

I do not want Mass Effect 3 spoilt for me, let me start by just saying that right now. There will be no spoilers here, but I feel I have to relay this story to all of you who, like me, don't want to know what happens in Mass Effect 3 before you experience it for yourself. Microsoft right now are running a beta test for their next dashboard update, and somehow, a beta for Mass Effect 3 popped up on there. Not a demo, a beta. That's an important distinction. It's been taken down now, but before it did some users had a look through the files and discovered a few spoilery things I intend to avoid like the plague. Bioware Producer, Jesse Houston had this to say:

“Microsoft has advised us that through human error at their end, content which was meant for internal beta testing was flagged incorrectly and released to individuals who had signed up for the beta of the Xbox Live dashboard update. We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. We urge fans not to read them [the spoilers] if they want to experience the purest form of the story in Mass Effect 3”

Pretty terrifying stuff. Don't worry though guys, you'll be seeing none of that here. Promise!

Spoilers piss Shepard off.... and you wouldn't like him when he's pissed off

Sunday
Nov062011

Trailer Round-Up - Week of 31st October 2011 - GTA 5, Gears Of War 3 and Soul Calibur V

Trailer Of The Week is obviously GTA 5, and even though I've already posted it, it deserves a 2nd showing. Enjoy!

Grand Theft Auto 5 - Reveal Trailer

I mean, what can you say? It's GTA 5!

Asura's Wrath - Knocking Out Demon Gorillas

To be fair, they did for some reason kidnap a mother and baby

Devil May Cry HD Collection - Shredding At It's Finest

Dante knows how to have a good time!

Gears Of War 3 - Horde Command Pack DLC

Here's what your precious Microsoft points will buy you.

Rayman: Origins - Death, Death And More Death!

It's not all fun and games!

UFC Undisputed 3 - Earn A Little Pride

I love UFC, not a great fan of the games though.

Soul Calibur V - Playing Dress Up

Well this looks ridiculous. Which is good.

Saturday
Nov052011

Daily News - 5th November 2011 - Alan Wake Sequel and Gearbox Are Amazing

Alan Wake Sequel Is A Thing That's Happening, Will Be Downloadable

Remember Alan Wake? Well if you do, news of a sequel will probably be pretty interesting, and if you don't, then you've just got yourself a new game to play! The original did well enough critically, but a sequel to it wasn't exactly guaranteed, and especially not one that would be exclusively downloadable, but here we are almost in 2012 and that shit's happening. The game, rumoured to be called Alan Wake: Night Springs, will be released on XBLA but from the sounds of it, will still manage to be a huge, full experience despite the new platform. Expect to hear more about the game in the months ahead.

The original wasreally cool, a sequel can only be a good thing, surely!

Gearbox Pay Tribute To Deceased Fan by Making Him A Character In-Game

Gearbox, the folks behind Borderlands, Duke Nukem: Forever and other games have honoured one of their fans, Michael John Mamaril, who died of cancer recently at the age of 22. Michael's best friend Carlo contacted Gearbox about the possibility of some kind of tribute and what he got was more than he could have hoped for:

Claptrap Eulogy for Michael John Mamaril

Having a friend who's life was cut tragically short honoured is one thing, but having them immortalized in one of their favourite games is quite another. It's easy to think of video games as just violent and mindless, but stories like this make me proud to have it as my hobby. I add my condolences to the flood of others out there for Michael's family, and thank Gearbox for showing there are actual people behind the products we love. Hopefully this made you guys as happy as it made me. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday
Nov022011

Daily News - 2nd November 2011 - GTA V, Mass Effect 3 and Gears Of War 3 DLC

Grand Theft Auto V Will Take Place In LA, And Here's A Trailer!

Yup. Oh, sorry, I'll shut up now...

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Detailed A Little More

So we're still unsure of exactly how the multiplayer in the game will work, but we've been getting info in dribs and drabs. Casey Hudson, Executive Producer at Bioware has released a little more info regarding the races and classes we'll be able to play:

"You can unlock different characters that allow you to be different species, races, and have very different kind of movement abilities, different powers. We're going to be shipping with a pretty impressive array of different things you can unlock... but we're also planning on expanding that over time"

To be honest, all I need to know is that you can play as aliens, with available races including Krogan, Asari, Drell, Salarian, and Turians. How awesome does that sound!

If the Krogan doesn't have unlimited health then this is gonna be bullshit!

Gears Of War 3 Horde Command DLC Is Out, Free DLC To Follow

If you're way into Gears Of War you probably already own this, but if you don't then I feel it's important to let you know about it. This isn't that mini-campaign they've talked about, this is an expansion for the game's Horde Mode. In the pack you'll get new Horde maps, more fortifications and more weapon skins and characters, and if you can wait for Thanksgiving (November 24th) you can get the free Versus Booster Map Pack which will add 5 new maps to the versus multiplayer mode. Gears fans have alot to be happy about, not least of all because they're playing Gears Of War 3.

Shit gets intense in Gears, any help we can get will be hugely welcome!

And finally...

Humble Voxatron Debut Is A Great Deal

You guys know by now that I love bargains, and few fall into your lap as good as the pay-what-you-want Humble Indie Bundles. This one's a little differently though, letting you be one of the first to own a new game aswell as getting a few little bonuses on top if you pay over the average. The main game in the bundle is Voxatron, but they just recently added The Binding Of Isaac (from one of the guys behind Super Meat Boy) and Blocks That Matter, an action puzzle game. It's a deal you'd be mental to miss, so don't miss it! (Also, Voxatron is cool as fuck!)

The Humble Voxatron Debut Bundle

 See how sexy this looks?!?!? LOOK AT IT!!!!!!

Monday
Oct312011

Trailer Round-Up - Week of 24th October 2011 - Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 and Lollipop Chainsaw

Trailer Of The Week goes to Skyrim hands-down. It's live action and really sells what they've been touting as making the game great. That dragon looks goooooooooooood!!!

Elder Scrolls V: Skrim - Live Action Trailer

If this doesn't get you excited then you be crazy!

NFL Blitz - Debut Trailer

Looks like some good ol', arcade-style American Football

Dragonball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi - A Dragonball Orgy

If you like Dragonball Z, this should tickle you in all the right places.

Infamous 2 - Festival Of Blood

This isn't DLC, it's it's own standalone game. Seems like a cool idea!

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Launch Trailer

You wanna see some explosions and some army guys?... Then check this shit out dawg!

Star Wars: The Old Republic - PVP In The Star Wars Universe

Twat a Sith with the butt of your gun. That'll show 'em!

The Darkness 2 - Executions In The Truest Sense Of the Word

Oh. Dear. GOD. Not the anus!!!

Lollipop Chainsaw - Shit Just Got Crazy!

I'm looking forward to this, there just isn't enough crazy around at the moment!