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Push comes to shove

Kellie Wallace
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This week, BioWare announced the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3 will be released in early 2012. Fans worldwide were outraged over the sudden delay in the space adventure.

But why do developers push back releases?

It has taken 12 years to get Duke Nukem back to our consoles but within weeks of release, Gearbox announced Duke will be slated for early June. An extra month can’t hurt, right?

It’s the oldest tool in the developer’s book. By delaying an anticipated title, not only does it add excitement, press and thrill, it also improves the game’s marketing and spot on the gaming industry pedestal.

The release of Gears of War 3 was due for June/July this year but Epic decided it needed more tweaking. Questions were raised when the multiplayer beta was announced for eager gamers to test out on April 25th. If the multiplayer is complete, where does the single player campaign stand?

If a developer constantly delays a game, what perception does it give to players? Deus Ex is one of this year’s biggest titles but Square Enix has pushed it back three times. Is it that good or is it so bad they need to rework it until they are happy?

Diablo 3 is one of those games where it stands high above its competitors. However Blizzard, a developer notorious in delaying its titles, hasn’t announced an official date for the RPG, only stating it has been made. Fans have been waiting for years.

Rumours swirled around the internet for a December 2011 release but Blizzard is yet to confirm. It is believed Diablo 3 might be out early 2012.

Fear 2 hit stores back in 2009 and fans eagerly waited for the next instalment. Small studio Monolith had mammoth success with the series and reported Fear 3 was on the cards. The title was due for a February release, showcasing impressive real life trailers and screenshots but Monolith delayed the title until April. Like Duke Nukem, within weeks they pushed the date and reported it for a May 22 slot instead.

Nintendo anticipates huge success with the massive title Legend of the Zelda, Orcania of Time this year. Many believed it might have accompanied the 3DS when it was released in March but Nintendo are yet to confirm a date for the game.

What you guys have to say about this ??

EA Week on Steam – Mass Effect Day

Fernando T. Gonçalves
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EA Week on Steam – Mass Effect Day

Steam and EA are running a special week with new deals dedicated to different EA series each day.

Today’s deal is all dedicated to the Mass Effect series, with three great deals to choose from:

Mass Effect (75% off)

Mass Effect 2 (50% off)

Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition (50% off)

Go ahead and buy your favorite games while there’s some hours  left for these deals, and remember to keep checking the steam website as new deals will be taking place each day until May 9.

Solatorobo’s First English Trailer takes to the Skies..

Dustin Spencer
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The other day we brought you a bit of news on the upcoming European release, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter which will be hitting the Nintendo DS on July 1st. To go along with that date, Nintendo and Namco have now released the first of four english trailers for the RPG. In this clip we don’t get a whole lot of actual gameplay footage as the whole trailer mainly just shows Red soar through the air on his trusty robot as a brief synopsis on the story is given.

Personally, while the overview of the plot was interesting, I immediately found myself paying attention to the score used for the trailer and if that is in fact just a sample of what is to come, Solatorobo might be a serious contender due to it’s soundtrack alone. You can watch the clip below and don’t forget in just two more weeks, another trailer will be gracing us which hopefully will cover some of the actual gameplay so stay tuned.

Sony ready to redeploy PSN; hackers prepare for round 3?

J. Bradshaw
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Through the PS Blog, Sony has announced that the rebuild of the PSN is complete, and it is now being tested internally by “global network and security teams” and they are in the  “final stages of internal testing of the new system, an important step towards restoring PlayStation Network and Qriocity services.”

Its tough to say how soon the PSN will be back online for everyone, but hopefully it will be soon.

Meanwhile,  CNET has obtained some info that another hack might be on the way. A person watching the Internet Relay Chat channel used by the hackers said today that a third hack is planned this weekend against Sony.  The publication of information like credit card numbers and addresses copied from Sony’s servers is rumored to take place as well.  The hackers say they still have access to Sony’s servers.

This situation started a a few weeks ago when the hacker group Anonymous targeted Sony  websites because of the alleged unfair  legal treatment of a hacker  named Geo Hot. Later, the Qriocity service and Sony Online was the subject was the subject of an attack that that exposed the information of over 100 million people. Sony took these websites, including PSN, offline in order to fix the problems.  Anonymous has denied responsibility for the information leak saying, “While we are a distributed and decentralized group, our ‘leadership’ does not condone credit card theft.”

However, Sony has stated that files left on their servers indicate that Anonymous is indeed the enemy.  Kazuo Hirai, chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, told  Congress that the file contained the statement “We are Legion,” which is Anonymous’ tagline.

Whatever the case, it appears that once the sites are back online, Sony better prepare itself for another attack by the same people who hacked them in the first place.

Sony has also faced public backlash due to the fact that were reportedly lax in their security measures before the attack and they did not involve law enforcement until several days after the attack happened.  Customer notifications of the problems were also delayed, as was a public apology by Sony executives.  Several lawsuits and governmental investigations have been started.

Anonymous has also faced criticism by gamers and the public.

Although probably not every detail of this situation will ever be known, both parties, and possibly others, appear to have performed some bad actions. Hopefully at least gamers can just get online soon.

RIFT 1.2 coming on May 10th

Benjamin Webb
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Coming May 10th is a huge patch from TRIONWorlds for the game RIFT. This patch offers a range of interesting new features, as well as some features lifted from other major MMORPG games on the market.

The patch title ‘The spoils of War” adds these new features, features such as a new raid instance and social networking integration. Users of the game are now able to link to their facebook from the “Plane of bragging rights” in the form of youtube videos, screenshots and achievements from within the game. But not only does the update provide a new social networking feature, it also comes with some interesting gameplay additions, such as the long awaited 5th soul slot, the new wardrobe feature for outfit sets; as well as the highly anticipated new 10-man raid, Slivers, which promises to be a challenge for all players.

As with any major patch from TRION, starting from now in game, players can experience the prelude to the patch, which involves fire and earth Rifts opening all across Telara for players to defeat, as well as Golden Dragon Egg Fragments and other kinds of monsters.

Below is a full list of features coming from the 1.2 patch.

Full list of Rift 1.2 Features:
·         Facebook Integration – Post updates, screenshots, or Achievements from Telara directly to your Facebook profile!
·         Looking for Group– Automatically form groups for dungeons, rifts, and group quests.  Complete random expert dungeons for additional bonuses, both for the daily player and the weekend warrior!
·         Wardrobe – Players can configure up to five outfit slots to choose between – look however you want, and break out those costume items.
·         New Ascended Powers – Omen Sight (Guardian) and Quantum Sight (Defiant) reveal openings to Slivers and even more in the future.
·         Additional Role – By popular demand, players can purchase a 5th role for even more class flexibility.
·         Many UI Improvements –Auction House, Crafting, and Artifacts all receive useful new refinements.
New Content in Rift 1.2:
·         Gilded Prophecy Sliver – Rift extends its support of 10-player raids to this new type of instance! Fight against Golden Maw cultists from another reality to prevent them from gaining relics of vast power.
·         New Dynamic Content – Two new raid rifts, one new expert group rift, rifts specifically designed around rewarding crafters, and easier access to expert group rifts.
·         New Zone Events:
o   Planar Chill – Control strategic locations in Iron Pine Peak against planar onslaught
o   Scourge of the Sands – Defend precious resources as they are moved to critical locations in Shimmersand Desert, then launch a counter attack
o   An Eye for an Eye– Guardians and Defiants summon their respective champions in order to defeat the Colossi in this end-game brawl.

Be sure to visit RIFT Website

Screenshots

The Witcher 2 censored a bit in Australia

J. Bradshaw
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The Witcher 2 is getting an MA 15+ rating in Australia, and that means that certain features in the game must be censored.  Luckily, the censors present in the Witcher 2 are small: the Witcher can’t accept sex as a reward for completing a side quest. Namco Bandai removed the “feature” but the quest and NPC are still in the game; the reward options are simply different.  For example, maybe upgraded weapons and armor will be available.  So far, its the only change made for gamers in Australia.

Later this summer, legislation is supposed to be enacted that will quell most, if not all, censorship issues in Australia.

SHMUSICUP Released for Download and Upgraded

Chris Cerami
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Tzai Entertainment has announced today that SHMUSICUP, their rhythm driven shoot ’em up, is now available for download onto PCs. While the game is still in its beta release, there are several enhancements that this downloadable version includes over its browser-based counterpart. First of all, the game now supports tons of file types instead of only MP3. In case you aren’t familiar with the game, SHMUSICUP is a bullet hell shooter where players import their own songs as the soundtrack, and the boss’s bullet patterns will be based on individual songs. In addition to MP3’s the improved SHMUSICUP now accepts AAC, m4a, MP4, and FLV. The game can now also be played in full screen mode and with support for controllers for gamers who have an aversion to keyboards.

One of the biggest improvements Tzai has included in the new-and-improved version of SHMUSICUP addresses one of the main concerns from our review of the game. Previously, bosses would die as soon as the song ended, no sooner and no later. This means that no matter what, skilled players couldn’t down the boss early and unskilled players couldn’t fail. Now it seems that if the song ends while the boss is still alive, the player loses any score bonuses that would normally be awarded. The game also rewards players who are able to kill the boss prior to the end of the song by sending it into an overdrive mode which drastically increases point values. On top of that, bosses also now appear to have varying hit boxes depending on what part of the body at which you are shooting. These things increase both the challenge and the strategy involved in achieving a high score.

Because of its beta status, SHMUSICUP is still in the pre-order stages of availability, with a pre-order scoring players access to all six stages. Players who purchase the game prior to its full release will also get it at a discount, paying only $9.99 instead of $14.99. If you’re interested in trying it out, SHMUSICUP can be downloaded here or you can try to in-browser version.

Buy Portal 2 and LA Noire on the cheap, plus even more deals!

J. Bradshaw
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If Portal 2 is not present in your game library, then now is the perfect time to buy it as it is  $34.99 on Amazon.  But if instead of puzzle solving,  crime solving is more your style, then LA Noire can also be had for the pre-order price of $44.99 on Buy.com.  Another deal on Amazon is to buy two games for the Kinect for $60.

A new 160GB  PS3 system with a $50 promotional credit can be had at Amazon as well.  Xbox 360 consoles are also on sale on Amazon.com.

The final deal is at Toys ‘R’ Us.  Buy a 160GB PS3 through May 7th and get a $50 gift card and a $20 PSN card for free.

Buy Portal 2 here.

LA Noire can be had here.

Get two Kinect games for $60 here.

Get 3D Dot Game Heroes for $15 here.

Cheap PS3 on Amazon here.

Cheap Xbox 360 on Amazon here.

Other cheap games on Amazon can be had here. The Force Unleashed 2 Collectors Edition and Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom are the highlights in that Amazon deal page.

1947 Los Angeles Crime Map used to make L.A. Noire

J. Bradshaw
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To get the creative juices flowing and to make their make game historically accurate, Team Bondi researched every newspaper that was published from January 1 to December 31, 1947.  These true stories inspired many of the cases that will be available to solve in the game.  Now, Team Bondi has released the  LA Noire 1947 Edition Crime Map and you can check out “the original clippings of these stories as they appeared in the L.A. Times that year, and see exactly where they happened in Los Angeles with the 1947 Edition Crime Map at www.latimes.com/lanoire.”

A select few of the articles that were researched include a:

“72-year-old oil man, E.J. Miley, who picked up three hitchhiking youths as he left on a drive from LA up to Fresno. The trio were petty thugs who thought they had an easy mark on their hands…

A pair of weightlifting rivals in Pacific Palisades who agreed to head to the gym to “settle the question of superiority”, but it winds up being far from a fair lift-off…

A horrible account of a young, disturbed returning veteran who, with no warning or apparent cause, murdered his bride and himself at his in-laws house one evening…

Acrobat burglars who broke into a market by ripping off a skylight, chopped a hole in the ceiling, and slid down a pole to make off with $2500 in cash (yes, that was a LOT back then) along with several hundred pounds of meat – but not before stopping to apparently chug several quarts of milk.”

Keep checking back, as more articles will be added to the website during the week.

 

Double XP weekend for Black Ops

J. Bradshaw
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Call of Duty: Black Ops has recently hit 10 million fans on Facebook, and Treyarch has also just recently released new maps for multiplayer.  As a result, they have decided to celebrate by throwing a double XP weekend party.  Starting on Friday the 6th at 10am PDT, and extending to Tuesday the 10th at 10am PDT, every match played will get you a step closer to achieving another rank.

Will you be going for another run at Prestige?  Maybe your just trying to unlock some more add-ons? Let us know in the comments how excited you are.

Check out our review of the Escalation DLC here, and then go get your head shot on.

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