Archive for February 2011
February 25, 2011 | 
Author Take out your calendar, and set of the date for the biggest blockbuster release 2011….. 20th September will the game launch worldwide, and Gears of War 3 will be the conclusion of one of the most memorable sagas in videogames history.
The story takes place eighteen months after the events of Gears of War 2 and the loss of the human stronghold of Jacinto. Marcus, Baird, Dom and company continue their fight to save human civilisation, as they battle the Locust and face new threats from within the planet throughout the campaign mode.
Here is what else you can expect from 2011’s most highly anticipated game
- An enthralling cinematic story that captivates players in an intimately intense action game
- Five-on-five multiplayer experience as well as four player campaign co-op experience
- New multiplayer game modes including ‘Beast Mode’ – offering a new twist to the game where you take on the role of the locust horde and their assorted variations!
- New maps including: Trenches which features an impressive sand storm that reduces your visibility, as well as Overpass, Mercy, Checkout, and Thrashball.
- New weapons including: The Bayonet Charge, The Retro Lancer, The Sawed-off Shotgun, The OneShot – a heavy sniper rifle that shoots through shields or cover for a surprise one shot kill, The Incendiary Grenade, The Digger Launcher and a few subtle tweaks to old favourites Hammerburst and The Classic Lancer. Don’t forget that each weapon now has its own execution move!
Stay tuned for more updates, and for more news on the Official Multiplayer Public Beta coming soon!
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EA released the demo of Dragon Age 2 today, and I have been able to test it reasonably early.
As you might understand, I’m quite the RPG fan and enjoy many of the games made, but…. not every one should be allowed to make those games as many developers chose to release the games to early and the results are poor.
That is not what have been done with DA2, at least of what I’ve tested of it. The characters seem strong and the history are interesting, and the controls are easy to learn. This means that you will most likely not have any difficulties with the way you’re using your char’s, even the levelling system seem to be easy going straight forward “chose your stats”, and every char will level up either faster or slower than you regardless of your level.
The graphic aspect for the game is nothing less than we can and should expect from EA and their developers. With great detailed chars and world, does it seems like another mass seller for EA again.
Unfortunately I personally think that the demo could have been longer so you would get more into the game and history.
Either way, I think this is one of the games you should buy this year, or at least give the demo a try.
There have been some rumours regarding another release of a new Medal of Honor, and they seem to be true.
Friday February 18th the developer of Medal of Honor “Danger Close” (a part of EALA) announced on their blog that they’re working on a new Medal of Honor game for the franchise. In the post called “”In Case You Were Wondering…,” executive producer Greg Goodrich broke the good news: “Yes, Danger Close is working on the next Medal of Honor.”
He also promised that the team has “studied, listened, and absorbed much of your feedback and are very excited to be marching forward on the next title. In his closing, Goodrich also thanked the many active servicemen and veterans that had written the studio with words of support, commenting, “Medal of Honor has always been fueled by the passion of our fans and the commitment and sacrifice shown by the men and women of our armed services.”
So let’s hope that they actually have listen to the feedback of the last MoH and make the maps bigger and less sniper friendly, and at least that they can make a real finish in the campaign, longer and harder. And for the love of god let’s hope that they will try to make something new instead of copying earlier games.
So Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga that released Novenber 5th 2010 in EU, and will release in the US April 12th this year.
Those who pre-order Divinity 2 will receive a 52 pages hard copy art book at no additional costs. If that’s not enough, all copies of the game will come with the soundtrack packed in on a bonus disc. Whether you’re getting the pre-order addition with artbook or just the soundtrack, the game will only cost $39.99.
Disney Interactive Studios announced today that they are planning to release Disney Pixar’s Cars 2: The Video Game this summer on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC and Mac.
With more than 20 Cars characters to choose from, players will engage in spy adventures and racing challenges. Cars 2 will also feature connectivity with World of Cars Online, a free-to-play browser complement.
Source: Gameinformer
I have come across some new info on Battlefield 3 both regarding the game and the release.
I can start with the release; there have not been set an actual release date but EA and DICE have said taht they’re aiming for a relaease in the fall 2011.
EA are planning to use dedicated servers for BF3 and the will support 64 player matches on PC and 24 players on 360 and PS3, you will still have 4 classes to chose between…executive producer Patrick Bach calls this number “the sweet spot”… and they will also extend the 4 player squad mechanics but there are no spesifics yet. “Squads are really easy to set up, but how can you take that further? We have some really cool things that we’ll show later when it comes to dictating how you play with friends,” Bach teases.
Furthermore, due to BF3 using a new version of DICE’s game engine, Frostbite 2.0, mod tools won’t necessarily reflect earlier Battlefield mod functionality. “We will not deliver mod tools in the way that we delivered them for Battlefield 2,” Bach says. “Creating mod tools today — dumbing them down — takes a lot of energy and what we are discussing more every day is, ‘Where do we put our focus?’ Right now our focus is to create the best possible multiplayer, single-player, and co-op game — the core game of Battlefield 3. We’re still discussing how we handle modifications of any kind,” he adds.
And though the third Battlefield title will arrive on launch day in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 flavors, the game’s primary development platform is the PC. “We won’t make it for console and port it to PC — that’s not how we do things,” Bach says. “We’re focusing on PC first, and then we fiddle with it to fit it onto consoles.” Frankly, we wanna fiddle with it wherever it is.
This is a video of the Frostbite engine 2.
Source: Gameinformer, Joystiq
SANTA CLARA, Calif., (Feb. 8, 2011) – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today released Body and Brain Connection™ for Kinect™, controller-free games and entertainment for Xbox 360®. Players of all ages must think fast and act even faster as they answer math, logic, reflex, memory and physical related questions using the full-motion capabilities of the Kinect for Xbox 360 sensor. From the originator of the video game brain training craze, Body and Brain Connection challenges players to exercise both mind and body in the most cerebral and energetic party game ever..
Body and Brain Connection was developed under the supervision of renowned Japanese neuroscientist, Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. In addition to his neurological work in Japan, Dr. Kawashima has also supervised the development of several best-selling games. His previous efforts with video games proved to millions of gamers around the world how fun it can be to train your brain in minutes a day with simple brain puzzles. His latest research shows that, in addition to simple daily mind exercises, brain activity is also jump-started by physical movement; thus resulting in Body and Brain Connection. The unique full-body motion Kinect for Xbox 360 sensor allows a player’’ body and mind to work in unison as they get off the couch to work out problems in their heads and complete the answer with specific physical actions.
Body and Brain Connection includes numerous activities in both single player and multiplayer modes. A daily tracker will ensure that players are up-to-date with their current progress as they solve past-paced exercises as quickly as possible. In addition, up to four friends can compete in fun and engaging activities as they strive for the fittest brain. To stimulate players’ minds post-launch, downloadable content (DLC) will be available featuring additional exercises and challenges. Details regarding the DLC will be released in the coming weeks.
Bioware and EA have announced that they will release a demo of Dragon Age 2 and that it will drop on February 22nd 2011 on all available platforms.
The demo gives players access to the game’s full prologue which will shed some light on the game’s protagonist, Hawke, and allow for tinkering with the game’s three character classes. From the prologue players get to see the city of Kirkwall and interact with some key players from the full game.
As an added incentive, if you beat the demo you’ll gain access to an exclusive weapon for the full retail release called Hayder’s Razor, “an ancient dwarven blade which increases health, mana, and combat abilities.”
Namco Bandai games announced February 4th that they are working on a new “Ridge Racer” game named “Unbounded”, but they have not yet announced any release date.
Here is the announcement from Namco Bandai games:
Feb. 4, 2011 – Leading video game publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America today announced RIDGE RACER® UNBOUNDED™ for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Windows PC. The newest installment of the smash racing franchise aims to shake up the genre by breaking all the rules and a plenty of cars along the way. Get ready to take the action off the circuits and into the streets for one of the most action-packed and destructive racing games ever seen.
RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED takes the RIDGE RACER series in whole new direction by adding a punishing dose of destruction to the familiar arcade gameplay. Players will careen through the competition using their four-wheeled street-racing thoroughbreds as high-octane wrecking machines with a new mantra – Drive, Destroy, Dominate.
“RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED injects a shot of adrenaline into one of the most revered racing franchises in video game history,” said Carlson Choi, vice president of marketing for NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “The talented Bugbear development team is committed to crafting a game with the amazing attention to detail the RIDGE RACER series is known for, while also delivering a destructive game, fans old and new will appreciate.”
Developing RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED is leading Helsinki-based racing specialist Bugbear Entertainment Ltd., whose games in the genre have earned both widespread critical and commercial acclaim. With RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED, they are aiming to push the genre further and bring their unique touch to the much-loved RIDGE RACER series.
From Software have now announced that they are working on a sequel to “Demon’s Souls”, and it will be called “Dark Souls”.
In the announcement they say that this will not be a direct sequel of “Demon’s Souls”, but a spiritual one. It’s been known for a good time now that they have been working on a new sequel, but that had the name “Project Dark”.
According to the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, That got their info from Andriasang.com. “Dark Souls” will have a difficult level that has been raised higher than “Demon’s Souls”. Both the Story and the world have been removed and replaced with a complete new one, but they have kept the role playing elements from “Demon’s Souls”
The maps will be more different and they’re also hinting about the world map will be in one huge piece where you have more places to respawn if you have died in a numerous times instead of a hub where you can chose to which area you want to go.
The game will also support coop functions and online gaming, but the info about this is yet to be properly announced.
They have not set a release date yet, but it will come out in Japan on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 during 2011.
It seems like Epic Games have done it again…. At least that’s what it looks like when I tried the demo. They have found a new way of entertainment in 3rd person games… The way ways you can kill your enemies are only restricted to your own fantasy, use the environment and your surroundings or just kick your enemies asses literally, just kick them if their to close. So the new ways of war Epic Games have delivered to us will probably change a lot for future games so things will evolve from just shooting and hiding to actually kicking some ass, and I hope that other developers will learn from this (Not copy, but learn). Just take Vanquish for an example… The fighting system is almost identical to the Gears of War series…. Anyway, I think that Epic Games are on the right course for future game development, and it looks like they’re always ahead of the other developers when it comes to this. I just hope it doesn’t get to be like Vanquish where I thought the demo was really cool, but it wasn’t that cool at all.
So I’ve tried this demo here the other day and I must say that I was impressed by how easy it is to get into the game and how addicting this is.
The reason for the addict is that you have so many options here and every choice you make actually have a consequence or a kind of response, unlike so many other games that tries this. Also your abilities regarding the fighting system are extremely easy to get into as you can get a “pet” (Don’t ask, just try it) that can be convenient to have by your side, you can use bows to end a fight even before it starts, with magic spells or even summon a ghost or something else to fight beside you. Just don’t forget that you can still use your sword for close encounters. I’m sure that this game will give you many hours of real fun, as even the demo gave me a few hours but it ends after your first time as a dragon. The graphics are great in some parts and ok at other, but in the whole aspect it is a great game and the music they’ve used in this game is not to annoying. As I have only been able to try the demo, I can’t give you more than this. But this is a game that I must get to try further as the part I tried gave me a insight of what to come and might become on my top list.