Casey Hudson, Excecutive Producer on Mass Effect 3, has today confirmed that the game will feature co-op multiplayer missions. There has been strong speculation about this since a South African games retailer released a promotional flyer that unofficially let the cat out of the bag, and it’s safe to say that there’s been a bit of apprehension over the idea! The fanbase’s feelings are  something the developers are obviously aware of, as you can see from the Tweet below:
So it’s definitely happening – collective sigh of relief that it’s co-op in 3…2…1…*breathe*
Of course there’s now a huge pile of questions to be answered and no doubt there will still be negative reactions to the whole thing. Will the single player suffer because the developers had to devote time to co-op? Will there be co-op achievments? What characters will be playable? Local or online only? Can I be Garrus?!
The general message from Bioware seems to be this: wait until you have all the details before you judge. Putting aside the internet’s ability to be patient and not post  OMG ME3 WILL BE *#@** COZ OF MULTIPLAYER type comments everywhere,  Wednesday will bring the release of more information, but for now – what do you think?
If you want some backstory before Metro Last Light hits, you can pick up Metro 2033 for a very good price this week. As THQ Week kicks off, Steam has knocked the price down on the game to a mere $5. In addition, the THQ Hit collection( which includes Darksiders, both recent Red Faction games, Saints Row 2 and Homefront) has been reduced to $50. Plus, the whole THQ offering on Steam, excluding Saints Row 3 and Space Marine, is 33% off for the entirety of this week. Finally, even more discounts will be coming up in the coming days. If your not into THQ games, then you can also pick up Ancients of Ooga for $5 today only.
Uh-oh. Commenters on Epic’s forums have recently been reporting that a glitch in Gears of War 3 is causing some consoles to freeze up. It seems that if you try to play Horde mode in splitscreen with two profiles, the bug attacks and permanently screws up one of the profiles, blocking that person from entering ANY other game modes in Gears of War 3.
There is reason to hope however. Epic’s Rykard has posted a questionnaire that attempts to find out what exactly is going on and update the game to fix it. Until then, we advise you NOT to play Horde mode in splitscreen.
You may remember a few weeks ago a developer walkthrough trailer was released to show off the first part of “The Missing Link” DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Today Eidos Montreal released the second part to that video which reveals that you won’t be staying on a boat the entire time in the DLC, but in fact traveling through a Belltower base as well.
In this video we are treated to a narrative by designer of the game, Antoine Thisdale. You can catch the video walkthrough below and expect to see The Missing Link dlc sometime later this month. I wonder if they have an augment to prevent sea sickness in the future?
We all know that the world of Skyrim is going to be a huge one, with plenty to see and do and hundreds of hours to waste roaming the countryside. But now it seems that the world map for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been revealed a bit early, and we can now see just how the map will look when it is released next month.
This map was revealed at the Igromir Expo in Russia and given to those in attendance, and then it has been translated into English by a Russian/English website to let us know just where a few of the landmarks are. Now the map doesn’t contain any actual dungeons or small settlements one may stumble across but it does reveal landmarks and major cities that can be traveled to. Click the map below to view it in all its fullscreen glory.
Rather than focus on releasing DLC as quickly as possible, Techland decided that they would work on fixing the bugs that plagued their game Dead Island. Because of this, the Bloodbath Arena DLC was delayed, however when they delayed it they did not provide an expected release date. Until now that is.
Dead Island revealed on their Facebook page that the window for release for this DLC will be sometime in the middle of November, planting it right in the biggest release window of the year. Now this DLC will be free to everyone who pre-ordered the game at GameStop, though it will be $10 for everyone else. When downloaded players can take on waves of enemies in a survival mode, make some new weapons and of course level up their characters.
While it may not show a whole lot, a new little trailer has shown up for Hitman: Absolution which teases us with the fact that tomorrow we will be able to see a whole lot more. The teaser follows Agent 47 as he runs from the police into an abandoned Chicago Library. Completely unarmed and outnumbered, his only way to make it out is through his advanced assassin skills.
Now while this teaser is certainly enjoyable in its own right, we must wait until tomorrow when the full video will be released and will show the full gameplay walkthrough of this mission which is going to be a must for any Hitman fan.
You know it is going to be a good day when one of the first things you see are a batch of new screenshots from one of the most anticipated games of the year. To be more precise, Bethesda has released a fresh batch of screenshots for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which you can see below.
These screenshots show off a handful of things we have yet to see much of yet from the game. This includes magic, alchemy, and a bit of combat. Also there is a dragon breathing fire on an archer which is just awesome, as well as a few more sights that can be seen as you explore the new land of Skyrim. With just a little more than a month until Skyrim is released, you can expect that a lot of people are going to be saying goodbye to their social lives as they enter the world of Skyrim.
SEGA Bass Fishing
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: XBLA (reviewed), PSN
Release Date: October 5, 2011
Price: 800 MSP – (HERE)
Overview
Originally released as an arcade game in 1997, SEGA Bass Fishing has come a long way to finally make it to the Xbox 360 Live Arcade. In 1999 the game was made for the SEGA Dreamcast and was compatible with the SEGA fishing controller for more immersed play. And here I am today expressing the joys of a game that has had a long journey. Let’s catch some bass!
Gameplay
So I have the mentality to just jump into games without looking over the controls. This was my first mistake playing SEGA Bass Fishing. Understanding the basics is key in order to perform well with different lures and ultimately reel your fish into the boat. Casting placement is done by moving your left analog and casting with the (A) button. Once the lure is in the water, you must create movement in order to attract bass.
The unique aspect about reeling is there four different ways to reel in. A slow reel can be accomplished with the right bumper while the left bumper offers a quick jerk to line. Using the right trigger provides a consistent pull and lands average bass without much effort. However, the ultimate fun factor is utilizing the right analog as the reel. By rotating the right analog in a circular fashion, you can reel a fish in at your own pace. I prefer this method whenever I take on a size-able bass over 10 lbs. There may be a sore spot in the middle of my palm, but that catch was worth it dang-nab-bit!
Looking through the modes, I felt that Practice Mode was most suitable for a fishing novice like myself. You are given an unlimited amount of time to catch as much fish as you can handle. This mode allows you to test your bass catching abilities with each lure without crunching down with a time limit. Keep in mind that time is a very, very important factor for the rest of the game.
Once I caught my first ten or so fish, I felt I could handle the Arcade version. Well, I soon realized how very wrong that notion was. This version is very fast paced and requires consistent casting and catching bass – preferably larger ones. The player starts with only one minute and thirty seconds to complete the 1st stage. Only by acquiring 11 pounds worth bass may the player advance to the next round. If the time limit expires, a continue selection is available. After playing through 3 stages with or without continues, the Arcade version is completed. Sadly, the overall time is not tabulated into the online leaderboards which would have been a unique statistic.
Upon further investigation of SEGA Bass Fishing, I found there was an Original mode that plays through as a sequence of tournaments (Amateur -> Challenge -> Professional -> Masters). Initially I thought that this tournament style was really tough. Being a novice I did not know the best lures for certain fishing spots. Also I was still getting use to the controls not knowing you could reel in most fish with out worrying about the line breaking. The Amateur Tournament allows the player to catch an unlimited amount of fish – this was my first mistake. I continually tried to catch the bigger fish while avoiding the smaller ones. The small bass add up quickly especially if you can reel them in fast. Both Professional and Masters have catching limits and only count the highest weights. This is when you avoid catching smaller bass because the overall weight is limited and ounces could push you up in rank.
Being on Xbox Live, leaderboards are a must to drive competition between players. Players may strive to have the best score in the following: Total Fish, Arcade Record Bass, Original Record Bass, and Practice Record Bass. I would have changed the leaderboards by taking the best tournament weights or taking the best arcade finishing times. I noticed that a lot of people have a similar score for record bass which is not very competitive.
I can only muster up a couple negatives for this spectacular fishing game. First off, you cannot drive your fishing boat! Moving the boat to the left and right does not count nor realistic. When I am on a boat I want it to move while I play Lonely Island’s “I’m On A Boat”. I also felt that only the bigger fish offer competitive fishing because you can just hold down on the right trigger for most other bass. However, this works towards the player’s advantage in all game types.
Visual/Audio
Discussing the graphics we must state that this is a Dreamcast title ported to the Xbox 360. Now the graphics are not great by today’s standards, but games today won’t look as polished in 10 years. Zoning myself into the SEGA Bass Fishing world was not hard to do when the gameplay was intense and addicting. Not only that but I began to feel the burn on my palm when I was reeling the big suckers in. Whether you are casting into a waterfall or the ruins of a palace, you are always looking around the environment to find the big one.
The in-game audio becomes important when dealing with lures that require you to make a sound. The popper for instance requires a certain movement that makes a “pop” noise to attract fish. Without the sound effect, you may feel discourage when you see that fish are just not interested.
The voice overs help out the player by discerning big bass. When you manage to snag a bass, a voice may tell you: “It’s a big one”. This hint lets you know that you will have to be careful when reeling in because your tension may break the line.
Overall
Offering addictive gameplay in all modes, SEGA Bass Fishing exploits the fun factor in fishing. Normally gamers would pass up the opportunity to play a fishing game, but they should NOT here. Simply one of the best fishing games I have ever played, SEGA Bass Fishing will keep you and your friends entertained for hours.
Despite the Wii being extremely late in its life and Nintendo seemingly ignoring any major game release support for the console, they are still planning on pushing out special bundles of the console with new game releases. To be more specific, Nintendo announced that they will be releasing a special blue Wii bundle in Europe this November for the release of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Eurogamer reports.
The bundle will include the game, the Wii remote plus and Nunchuk all of the same color. Also, of course, it will contain the Wii itself, but you may notice that this is a smaller Wii. The reason for this is that it is one of the new models that does not include GameCube support in any shape or form. At the time there has been no price released for this bundle, anyone want to take a guess?
