It appears that when Sony gives you a window of opportunity you should take it. It was only yesterday that they announced that they would begin banning anyone that had a hacked or modded PS3. Those who had modified PlayStation 3s were given a small time period to remove any modified content on their console. Too bad that chance has come and gone in only a day.
Anyone who had a modified or hacked PS3 was greeted with a message saying that they could “not use the PlayStation Network with this account (8002a227)” or received an email linked to their PSN account with the following message:
Notice: Access to the PlayStation(R)Network and access to Qriocity(TM) services through your PlayStation (R)3 system has been terminated permanently due to the use of unauthorized circumvention devices and unauthorized or pirated software on your PlayStation(R)3 system.
This use violates the terms of both the “System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation(R)3 System” and the “Terms of Services and User Agreement” for the PlayStation(R)Network/Qriocity(TM) and its Community Code of Conduct provisions. In the unlikely event that this termination was in error, contact your local consumer support centre.
It seems that legitimate players can now go onto their favorite PSN game without the worry of encountering a modder or a hacker. This is finally what fans of PlayStation 3 have been waiting for, definitive action by Sony. Maybe more people will be willing to pick up their favorite online shooter again.
Ubisoft’s throat slitting franchise will be getting some new blood this spring. In March 2011, you can expect to see a huge new expansion pack for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. The DLC will include two new areas for players to explore in single player mode. The reason for doing this? Well, Ezio’s little pal Da Vinci got himself kidnapped because he’s a damned genius. These kidnappers are world dominating freaks and want to use his special gifts to rule. You should probably rescue him before it is too late. That is, if you can rip yourself away from the new multi-player components.
The Dama Rossa, the Knight, the Marquis and the Pariah will all be new characters added into the multi-player slash fest. The “Alhambra” map is a lush quarter of a Spanish city that will allow your stealthy feet to creep around in a multi-level indoor/outdoor arena. Finally, there are also two new modes. First up is Escort. Two teams of four players each are tasked with assassinating the opposing team’s VIP. Assassinate, the final mode, is a ten minute round of Deathmatch. Get the map packs for $10.oo on Xbox and PS3 when they release.
There have been many different ways to advertise your upcoming game. You can put out commercials, you can rent ad space on a bus, or you could create a bunch of North Korean looking food trucks that are called the PyongYang Express and have them drive around the Los Angeles and San Francisco area. Yep if you live in the either of those two California towns you have a chance of stumbling upon these trucks between February 22nd and March 21st.
These trucks were used a few months ago by THQ to help market Homefront and actually will sell food like they did before, including tacos and rice bowls for only a few dollars. But that isn’t the best thing about these trucks, rather than getting food you will also have the chance to play Homefront earlier than anyone else because they will have a working demo of the game available on certain days in the truck. The best way to track the truck is through its twitter page PyongyangBBQ. Certainly creative but it’s surprising no one has been offended by it somehow yet.
It is one thing to say that you have done a major graphical overhaul to your video game sequel and leave it at that. It is an entirely different beast when the company goes over the graphical improvements in great detail by explaining everything bit by bit like BioWare has just done for Dragon Age 2. On the BioWare blog the team behind the graphical technology have went into extensive detail about the new engine they are using; the Lycium Engine.
The image above is just a taste of what they explain on their website but it shows the new terrain and sky editing tools that they have at their disposal to create more realistic looking, and realistic behaving clouds and provide an enhanced visual experience in the outdoor worlds which usually start to look bland at a distance. Don’t take my word for it however, there is more on the way from the development team as the days bring us closer to the March 8th release date.
Those of you who played the Killzone 3’s open beta know that it had it’s fair share of problems, both bug related and balance related. Teams were often lopsided with 10 players on one team and 5 players on the other, players corpses acted as brick walls that would allow none to pass, constant “your faction has won” glitches which would result in unplayable games.
If you were worried these problems would persist in the final version, perish the thought. Guerilla Games has provided an update on their blog detailing a list of changes and fixes that will be applied shortly after the games launch, whether this means minutes, hours or days remains to be seen.
-The full list of changes and updates-
A fix to the “Your Faction Has Won/Lost” issue, along with all oddities that resulted from this occurring
An issue that allowed more than two clans to join a clan match will be fixed
Increased Accuracy, Bullet Damage and Faster Reload Ribbons will update correctly on personal statistics screens
We’ve simplified the process to invite players into your game (just one button press)
The radius of the Marksman’s Scramble++ has been lowered
Medic’s Revive distance increased and cooldown to re-use is decreased
No collision on mortally wounded player bodies
Increased player stamina
An icon will be shown in the menu when you have a Killzone 3 message in your inbox
Support for color-blind players
Implement unranked custom games for players to create private or clan matches
Enhanced custom games functionality that will allow players to:
Control over games modes and settings
Secure games, allowing you to invite the players you want to play with
The ability to prevent abilities and weapons from being used
Toggling on and off functionality, such as ribbons, skills, explosives, etc.
Selecting which careers you want available to players
Allow friendly fire to be turned on or off
Faction switching enabled or disabled
The Clan Officer role will be added to clans
Separate turn speeds for hip-fire and ADS
Overly enthusiastic death screams will be toned down
Increased the amount of kills required to win a Guerrilla Warfare match
Increased Accuracy ribbon will have its effectiveness lowered
Likewise, the Bullet Damage ribbon will have its effectiveness lowered as well
Matches will end if the other team forfeits (i.e. too few, or no players on the enemy team)
Matchmaking enhancements that will close and merge games based on player count, which will keep games more full
Balance factions out by moving players to the other team at the end of the match if one team is lopsided
The ability to turn off HUD markers for point pop-ups and objectives
A menu option to allow squad-only chat
The addition of a Mute All button
Scoreboard flickering will be fixed
Clans will no longer get matched against other clans that have many more players than they do ( i.e. 4 vs. 7, 5 vs. 8 )
Worried that the fix or change you have been hoping for isn’t listed here? Worry not, Guerilla Games says this is just the beginning and will continue to work on the game post-release. Knowing how committed Guerilla Games is to providing support for Killzone, I’m eager to see what the next batch of updates is.
Bethesda and id Software’s post-apocalyptic shooter just got a bit more attention now that it has received another trailer that shows off some gameplay. The trailer itself shows off some shooting of random mutated enemies as well as a few actual characters from the game that are currently unnamed. What could their correlation be to the story in the end? We’ll find out more soon.
Despite that, the song in the background is Burning Jacob’s Ladder by Mark Lanegan and for those who do not know what RAGE is, it is a FPS that will be powered by id Tech 5 and take place after an asteroid caused apocalypse. Considering the fact that RAGE has the likes of DOOM under their belt, Rage looks like it will be able to make a mark in the FPS genre when it releases on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC later this year on September 13th.
LEGO Ninjago: The Videogame has been given a new trailer by publishers Warner Bros. Interactive, showing some of the gameplay in motion for the first time.
Complementing the LEGO Ninjago toy contruction sets, LEGO Ninjago: The Videogame introduces players to the art of Spinjitzu, a powerful fighting technique that uses wind to launch strong tornadoes at opponents. As shown in the trailer, the game has a focus on Ninjas as they battle with evil Skeleton Forces to restore harmony to their world.
It allows you to build up armies and send them into battle with its two player functionality and is set for release this Spring.
With 2011 being an awesome year for new releases with titles gaining headlines and brownie points among fans worldwide, there have been games over the last 3 years that haven’t earned that status.
Certain titles have fallen under the radar, despite being wonderful games at the time. These games which fell among the giant titles it was released against have now found a soft spot among small groups of fans.
Raven’s Singularity was one of these rarities. Failing to reach the level of other first person shooters, it found a cult following with its rawness, gritty maps and beautiful graphics.
Singularity was released mid 2010 to little fanfare and it could have been found at the bottom of many dump bins. With Raven now in development alongside Sledgehammer and Infinity Ward making the new Modern Warfare 3, it can be certain that Singularity will be resurrected.
With the disastrous response to EA’s Medal of Honour in October last year, saw stocks fall and fans become idle. The Call of Duty wannabe had huge expectations and failed miserably. Fans that look passed its flaws will see a superb; military based shooter with class and realism.
Alan Wake was a title that had little marketing and fanfare behind it to launch it alongside other thriller based third person shooters. The plight of author Alan Wake finding his missing wife, failed to pull the heart strings. In order to gain more exposure, Microsoft pulled out 3 DLC just months after the game was released. There are rumours Alan Wake 2 is in development.
When Dead Space was first released in 2008, it was deemed as a survival horror title made only for dedicated, horror enthusiasts to play in the dark. EA announced they had stopped making the game and with the release of the sequel this January, many have questioned why. The survival of Isaac Clarke earned a small plethora of fans dedicating fan pages, YouTube videos and even artwork to the engineer.
As gamers, it is painful to see titles we have attached ourselves to fail to make that connection with other players. Games such as Crackdown 2, Dead to Rights and even Heavy Rain never seemed to make that emotional attachment to the masses. Whilst it is difficult to match the fan favourite rivalssuch as Gears of War, Call of Duty and Halo, we know that the games that never really take off have a special place in our hearts.
As part of their deal with PopCap which also sees PopCap Hits released on Xbox 360, Mastertronic will release a compilation of PopCap greats on the PC, tomorrow on February 18th. Mastertronic is a leading UK publisher, and as such, the title is releasing exclusively to the UK retail market.
The pack is made up of three top PopCap casual games: Plants vs. Zombies GOTY, Bejeweled Blitz and Amazing Adventures the Caribbean Secret. This should open up these titles to a whole new audience now they will be available in the shops, as they have previously only been available as digital downloads.
Plants vs. Zombies GOTY, Bejewelled Blitz and Amazing Adventures the Caribbean Secret will be released for the PC on 18th February 2011, at a value price point.
Marvel vs Capcom 3 Publisher & Developer: Capcom Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3 Released: February 15th 2011 Price: $59.99 US – Buy Now!, £49.99 UK –Buy Now!, $109.99 AUS – Buy Now!
Overview:
Crossover fighting games have always had a special place in gamers’ hearts. What better way to settle disputes on who would beat who in a fight than to actually put them against one another? Now it has been over a decade since a Marvel vs Capcom game has provided fighting fans a chance to do battle with one another in fast paced battles that could fill the entire screen depending on what characters are doing battle with each other. Now that Marvel vs Capcom 3 has been released, much to the joy of fighting fans everywhere, does it stay true to what fans love?
Story:
The story begins with Marvel’s Doctor Doom putting together some of the world’s most dangerous villains with evil intentions in mind. It doesn’t help that Resident Evil’s Albert Wesker is doing the same exact thing and they have formed an alliance among themselves in the hopes of gaining control of everything in both of their respective universes. The rest of the fighters from these worlds aren’t going to just sit around and let that happen though.
But before they can even make a move to intervene, a mysterious and powerful threat has been awoken by the union of the two worlds and is coming to destroy everyone and everything. This means that both heroes and villains must work together from the Marvel and Capcom universe to stop him from destroying their worlds.
Unfortunately the storyline is far from unique and also very soft spoken, meaning that there is barely any mention of this. The opening cut-scene explains most of the plot immediately and besides the ending movies for the character you finish off the final boss with, the story is far from deep. Of course there are some small interactions between characters that recognize one another and say certain phrases when they start the battle or switch out.
While fighting games aren’t usually known for having a stellar story (or any storyline at all occasionally) we have seen quite intuitive storytelling in the past from fighting games and it is unfortunate that MvC3 wasn’t given a better narrative considering the large amount of source material that it could draw upon.
Graphics:
Players will know what they are in for immediately when the game turns on the first time and are presented with a warning that says that the game will contain lots of flashing lights and anyone prone to seizures would have to take special precautions. Especially considering there are times that the player can perform Hyper Combo attack with all three of their fighters and cause plenty of large flashing laser beams and extremely fancy attacks. Beyond that MvC3 features a stylized blend between great looking 3D models and cel-shading that definitely lends a unique look to the fighters
Characters are brightly colored and each appears just as if they were fighting in their very own video game. The most unique feature that I found was the fact that many of the characters still happened to retain certain features that could easily have been passed by, such as Amaterasu having grass and flowers springing to life wherever she steps. If you have heard of the characters fighting then you will know exactly what they look like considering the fact that all of these characters are as true to their original designs as possible.
Audio:
Usually a fighting game wouldn’t be praised for its audio and voicework, but MvC3 is certainly an exception to that rule. First of all, each of the characters in the game has their own theme song which is an extremely nice touch, and plays when you view their artwork or character model. Some of these songs may not be familiar but always are relevant to the character they are attached to, either from a past video game or from their comic book origins. Combine these theme songs with the fast paced and energetic music in the background of each fight and you are in for a blood pumping good time.
Earlier I mentioned the fact that characters often speak to one another if they recognize one another. This is perhaps one of the best features of the dialogue system in the game. There are countless combinations to be had when you select your fighters, and they will interact with one another as you swap them in and out of battle. My favorite so far was when Darkstalker’s Felicia finishes a battle against Ameratsu and says she wants to play with the puppy again. These character interactions are a nice touch, including the fact that you can switch the voice acting between English and Japanese for any character that you want which gives people a chance to change their character interactions just a bit.
Gameplay:
Players will have the opportunity to select between thirty two different fighters with sixteen from each world. There are quite a few new faces to the ranks, plenty of old favorites are returning just the same. Perhaps the loss of some of the more obscure fighters from years gone by was done to make room for the more popular characters of today? But considering MvC 2 had a fighting roster of fifty six different fighters (some similar to one another) it is disheartening to see such a drastic cut in number.
Despite that fact players will be introduced into the game right from the get go. There are a number of modes available for play, such as your standard Arcade Mode where most of your time will be spent, multiplayer where you can do battle with those around the world, and Mission Mode. Now Mission Mode can be seen as an in-depth training mode to help show how to use a specific characters special moves and combo attacks. Each of the thirty two characters has ten different missions of increasing difficulty that will give players a chance to learn their favorite characters both inside and out.
As you enter a real fight you will notice that battles will take place with three man teams each ready to do battle until the finish with one another. A feature that was implemented perhaps to make the game easier to pick up for new players changes the course of battles drastically. The feature I am talking about is the Simple Control scheme mode. This mode changes your entire attack scheme to feature special moves and attacks that would normally require a relatively large amount of button combinations to perform, as well as give players a one-touch Hyper Combo activation button, and even a team Hyper Combo activation button as well.
Now Simple Controls aren’t the end all of the game, due to the fact that despite the ability to perform special attacks on the fly, you are stuck using only certain special moves. Sure you will be able to perform Snap Backs, where you forcibly switch your opponent’s character, and Aerial Team Combos, switching your own character out while continuing a combo attack, as simple as anyone can ask for. The true abilities of the characters still lay within the Normal Mode which allows the full spectrum of attacks to be used which means that despite an easy to enter option; the true heart of the game lays within the complicated combo attacks that fans of the series love.
Another feature added into the game this time around is the X-Factor ability which is activated at any time during a fight by pressing all the attack buttons at one time. This X-Factor is only available once during a fight and will change the face of your fight drastically depending on when you use it. The X-Factor will increase your team’s movement speed, damage output, healing power and makes you resistant to any minor damage. This means that if you are currently on a losing end of a battle, the X-Factor could completely swing things your way.
The reason I mention that the losing end of the battle would be the best time to use it is because the X-Factor appears to be stronger and more effective when players are down to only one fighter. The duration appears to change depending on the fighters that you have left in your arsenal and using it in the beginning of a fight can sometimes be your downfall if your opponent held onto their own last minute. The game changing ability of the X-Factor adds even more strategy to what can be seen as an in-depth fighting game already.
Now despite the additions of the X-Factor and the Simple Control mechanic, MvC 3 will play quite similar to what fans of the series will know and love. There have not been too many changes to the gameplay formula. But thankfully one thing that has changed is the balancing of the games’ fighters. Sure there are still going to be fan favorites and powerhouse fighters but the inclusion of the X-Factor has made it so despite the fact that players may use Dante, Storm and Deadpool to try and take your force out quickly, you always have a trump card.
Now the multiplayer aspect of MvC 3 will give players the chance to do battle in Ranked, Player, and Lobby Matches and unfortunately the Lobby Matches are the scene of a missed opportunity. Players can enter a lobby of up to eight different players from around the world and wait it out to do battle against one another. The main problem of this is the fact that, although you can talk with one another via your microphone, you cannot actually see the fight happening at the time. There is a small display shown on the side showing the fighters’ roster health but that is all. There is a missed opportunity to allow those in the lobby to not be able to view the fight at hand.
Another thing to take notice of is the fact that there is no option to record your previous fights. We’ve all been in a situation where we have either wiped the floor with an opponent or recovered from said floor wiping to get a miracle victory, but unfortunately there is no option to save your fighting prowess to show off to your friends and fellow fighters.
Overall:
Earlier I asked if Marvel vs Capcom 3 would be the game that fans of the series have been waiting for and the answer to that question is yes. There is a remarkably large amount of detail placed inside of the cel-shaded box of MvC 3 and with its revamped character roster, easy entry/hard mastery controls, and new fighting mechanics it is easily one of the best fighting games you can ask for. Despite the fact that there isn’t any storyline worth speaking of, Marvel vs Capcom 3 has a lot to offer in unlockable artwork, character models, and even titles to show off online. With only a few small hiccups in the road, Marvel vs Capcom 3 can go down as a successful continuation of the series.
