Astro announces a major update for the original two products of their premium gaming accessory line. The Astro A40 Pro Gaming Headset has received new re-tuned drivers and enclosures to improve the accuracy, the low end response, and the distortion at high volumes. In addition, the Quick Disconnect Cabling system has been modified to accommodate a variety of cable types and length and the cable now plugs straight into the headset.
The MixAmp Pro has also been updated to shrink the physical size of the unit, making it easier to transport and two new ports have been added. A more reliable 3.5mm optical port is replacing the old TOSlink optical port and a new Stream Out plug that allows game sound and incoming/outgoing voice chat to be outputted on one cable. This makes the now popular live streaming even easier. In addition, the Audio Profile features available on the A50 system is now available for the MixAmp Pro.
All previous features are still intact and the price is still $249.99 USD. Astro Gaming products and the 2013 editions of the A40 system is how available at Best Buys and select Gamestops in the US, at EB Games and JB Hifi in Australia, and in November Canadians will be able to purchase them at EB Games, Best Buy, Fnac, and Micromania.
It’s finally here – Paranormal Activity 4 has arrived in cinemas today. The fourth movie in the franchise (though probably not the last) is set to terrify people and set them screaming as what we assume is Hunter, turns up as a young kid, and starts the chain of weird stuff all over again.
Last time we saw him he was being carried out of his house by a crazy Aunt Katie, and somehow they’ve both been dumped in the middle of suburbia (in another state). Whether or not you’re a fan of the series, it’s certainly easy to pick up, and it’s all in good suspenseful fun.
Check out the reaction video of the Sydney screening below. What do you reckon? Are they wimps, are you strong enough to take on the demon scares? Or will you end up jumping just like them?
Paranormal Activity 4 is out in cinemas NOW.
Keep an eye out on the site for a review of Paranormal Activity 4, as well as coverage of other movie news and reviews!
The DVD set for the short lived show, Terra Nova, is being released on October 24, 2012. Terra Nova is a truly epic television show, which follows the Shannon family as they travel 85 million years into the past to an Earth of a parallel universe because their current Earth is suffering from overpopulation. It’s full of dinosaurs and mystery – and with a $4 million budget for each episode it’s definitely epic.
As well as the complete series, fans will also receive an exclusive opportunity to access the Terra Nova Files online and help complete the story! From codes included in the DVD set, fans will find an original motion comic scene that picks up where the final episode left off, and allows them to finish the story the way they would have liked to see. It’s like the ultimate FanFiction!
Check out the trailer for the DVD below!
If you’re a fan of the show, or just a fan of dinosaurs and interesting shows, then you should definitely take a look at grabbing this DVD set. Terra Nova The Complete Series will be available on October 24, 2012 for $39.98 – Preorder your copy HERE
Since Patch 1.0.5 has been released, all the attention has been drawn to the new device called the Infernal Machine. What is this device you might asked? Well, the Infernal Machine is a cursed construct that can be built by a player to form a portal to a deadly battle zone. The portal will teleport the user to a battleground where the player will battle “uber” versions of bosses in pairs.
How To Assemble
In order to craft the Infernal Machine, players will need to collect a few components. There are four components held by powerful Keywardens in each act of Inferno difficulty. Here are their locations:
The Key of Destruction will drop from Odeg the Keywarden in Act I – Fields of Misery
The Key of Hate will drop from Sokahr the Keywarden in Act II – Dahlgur Oasis
The Key of Terror will drop from Xah’Rith the Keywarden in Act III – Stonefort
The Blacksmithing Plans will drop from Nekarat the Keywarden in Act IV – Silver Spire Level 1
Keywardens can be faced on any difficulty; however, only Inferno difficulty along with five stacks of Nephalem Valor will potentially yield a chance to drop components for the device. Additionally, players can utilize “Monster Power” to increase the likelihood of a successful drop. For example, setting the Monster Power at 10 will yield 100% drop of a component.
How The Device Works
Once all of the components have been collected, players can finally forge the Infernal Machine at the town blacksmith. However, some stipulations apply. Your blacksmith must be a level 10 craftsman, and you must pay 12,000 gold in order to attain the device.
Now that the Infernal Machine is built, a portal can be created but only in a certain cellar in New Tristram. Summoning the portal in the cellar will cause the device to break – yes, break! The Infernal Machine has a one time use and must be recreated to enact another portal. Once the portal is activated, players can only use the portal for that session. This means if you log out you just wasted some potential amazing loot.
Bosses
After entering the portal, there are three possible realms that your character may travel to. In the Realm of Discord, the Skeletal King Leoric and Maghda guard the royal crypts beneath the old cathedral in Tristram. In the Realm of Turmoil, Siege Breaker and Zoltun Kulle hold strong to the Edge of the Abyss. The screenshots below picture perhaps one of the deadliest combinations of bosses as Ghom and Rakanoth defend the Larder in the Realm of Chaos.
Dying in the portal does not hinder your chances at getting the loot. Players may return to the portal any amount of times during their *current* game session. Upon exiting the game, the portal will close and be forever lost until another Infernal Machine device is created. Additionally, no more than three portals can be active during a single game session as players cannot access the same realm twice.
The Booty
No, we are talking about Diablo’s transformed feminine booty! We are talking about the kind of loot to expect once killing off these damned beasts of Hell. Plenty of items and gold will be available for pick-up, but what intrigues me more is that you have a chance to harvest organs from your fallen foes. Here are the following organ pieces:
The Writhing Spine, which drops from King Leoric or Maghda in the Realm of Discord
The Devil’s Fang, which drops from Ghom or Rakanoth in the Realm of Chaos
The Vengeful Eye, which drops from Siegebreaker or Zoltun Kulle in the Realm of Turmoil
By gathering the three components, a Hellfire Ring may be forged. First, players must purchase the design from Squirt the Peddler for a mere 2,000,000 gold. Using the three organs and 15,000 gold pieces (nothing compared to what you just spent on the design), a ring can be created into four variations: intelligence, dexterity, strength, and vitality. The main stat that you chose will add a bonus ranged from 170 to 200. The additional stats include the following: +35% experience, +4 magical properties, no level requirement, bind on account, and a chance to launch and explosive Hellfire ball when you attack.
A couple things to consider when wielding the Hellfire Ring. As a level 60, you do not necessarily need the +35% bonus experience unless to increase paragon levels. Therefore, by transferring the item to a lower level alt, you can level up faster due to the no level requirement. Not too mention that the chance to unleash a Hellfire ball is pretty kick-ass.
Call of Duty: Elite, the online subscription based service that acts as the hub for all things Call of Duty, will not be available in any form when Black Ops 2 when it arrives on the Wii U at launch. Activison had the following to say about it:
“We are currently evaluating options for Call of Duty Elite to support Nintendo’s Wii U game system, however Call of Duty Elite for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will not support this platform when the game launches on November 13.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 launches for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on November 13 and will later launch for the Wii U on November 18.
Last night Arc System Works revealed the opening video that will play anytime someone starts up BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma which is the next entry in their well-known fighting series. The video, which can be seen below not only provides a look at how gorgeous this game is going to be, but also a brief glimpse of both Mu-12 and Nu-13.
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma will feature a number of new additions over past entries in the series, such as a brand new stylish control scheme to make it easier for newcomers to learn the ropes, as well as an Overdrive system for players well-versed with the game and three brand new characters in the form of Amane, Azrael and Bullet.
Remember yesterday when afew early details for Marvelous AQL’s Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus were revealed by Famitsu? Well today Famitsu has not only provided images of the five girls revealed yesterday, but they have also revealed the below trailer which shows how the game will look in action for the first time.
As you can see in the video below, absolutely nothing has been lost in translation with Senran Kagura’s shift from being a 2D side-scroller to a 3D action game. Also, those who have been paying attention to past Senran Kagura releases will notice that a number of older characters are also returning in some form for this Vita exclusive. Artwork and a screenshot of each girl can be seen below, with Murasaki shown first, then Miyabi, Imu, Ryoubi and the busty Ryouna.
While fans of of Sonic the Hedgehog are still twiddling their thumbs waiting for SEGA to announce the next “mainstream” Sonic game, a smaller, lesser known title called Sonic Jump has already been announced, developed and set for a quick release. SEGA recently posted on twitter that Sonic’s next outing, on ios of all things, is set for release on the 18th of October. That’s two days away! I know the Blue Blur is famous for his speed, but the rapid rate at which this title was announced, developed and published has to be some kind of record.
Sonic Jump is going to be made available on Ipod Touch, Iphone and Ipad devices this Thursday for $1.99US/AUD. The core game mechanic appears to feature our speedy little friend making continuous vertical climbs and jumps, most likely in a variety of environments. If this sounds familiar to those of you who enjoy Doodle Jump, then you’d be right. However, little known fact, this title is in fact the THIRD Sonic Jump game to be released. The original two games of the same title were released in 2006 and 2008 on SEGA’ cafe in Japan and SEGA Mobile as downloadable mobile titles on the phones of that day and age. (Obviously before the mass proliferation of the Idevice.)
The original games featured identical mechanics where players took on the role of Sonic to jump and chase after Dr Eggman. This recent release seems to feature more of the same. (Although perhaps they might add a selection of characters this time to mix it up?) Probably not what one would call a “must-have” in an already large catalogue of Sonic titles, but what self respecting Sonic fan would pass up a new Sonic game for only $2?
And so I decree this to be Skylanders day, where all shall bow down and honour the magical and in many cases elusive little (and now giant), characters as they again bestow their presence upon us. While being a slight exaggeration the popularity of this franchise is unprecedented with fans still scrambling for older characters and resorting to whatever means necessary to procure their new favourite and rarer characters. Much to the bane of Portal Masters everywhere, the malevolently evil Kaos returns to lend his particular brand of destruction to all major gaming platforms including XBox 360, PS3, Wii, PC and 3DS with the WiiU version on the way with the consoles launch. Finally released upon its fans, Skylanders Giants has had fans foaming a the mouth in anticipation of whats in store in the sequel to the most successful kids title of 2011 as well as being 2012’s best selling title so far.
Skylanders Giants see the introduction of 16 new charcaters all with their own special skill sets, upgrades and abilities comprising of 8 standard characters led by 8 new giants who stand well above the lelves of their allies. In addition their are also a new range of Lightcore Skylanders that glow when placed near or on the mighty Portal. All the old favourites such as Wham Shell and Trigger happy will return complete with a new Wow Pow upgrade power as well as being able to follow more than one upgrade path.
“It’s really gratifying that in less than a year, we’ve seen Skylanders go from being an intriguing untested new IP to becoming one of the hottest kids franchises in the world. And it has been universally acclaimed by parents, kids and critics alike,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “Skylanders is more than just a new piece of interactive entertainment, but a genuinely new kind of thinking in interactive entertainment. The response of the fans has been incredible, and the only way we can return the favor is with a sequel like Skylanders Giants. This game is all about big: big creatures, big worlds, bigger ideas. We’re very excited to see Skylanders Giants finally hit the shelves.”
Nintendo users are also in for a surprise as the WiiU version will be specifically designed foe the new controller system, making good use of its motion and touchscreen abilities and features. Meanwhile 3Ds users will get a whole new adventure exclusive to the system and bringing bcak Flynn, Hugo and Cali as well as introducing Captain Frightbeard.
If you thought being in charge of a city and the well being of its infrastructure and citizens would be a fine way to pass the time, have a peek at the new and humorous Simcity Disasters trailer before quitting your day job. From tornadoes to alien attacks, players will have their hands full as they have to decide on how to best design their city and allocate funding to aid in those times of disaster. I can remember the frustration when playing the original Simcity to have just finished a huge metropolis only to have it reduced by rubble by an earthquake, meteor strike or rare appearance from Godzilla.
Disasters in Simcity are inevitable but can be easily repaired if you have a forward thinking mayor who has allocated enough funding to his police, fire and hospital services. Those who have a little more of a risky streak to them can forgo such niceties and go straight for that industrial or modern look, just beware when mother nature comes a knocking.
For more helpful tips and information on Simcity please visit www.simcity.com
The DVD set for the short lived show, Terra Nova, is being released on October 24, 2012. Terra Nova is a truly epic television show, which follows the Shannon family as they travel 85 million years into the past to an Earth of a parallel universe because their current Earth is suffering from overpopulation. It’s full of dinosaurs and mystery – and with a $4 million budget for each episode it’s definitely epic.
