COMPUTER GAMES

Why are video game movies usually so bad?

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Fri, 16 May 2014 01:59:00 +0000

Warcraft movie producer Thomas Tull says it's because they are often made for the wrong reasons.

Movies based on video games do not have a great critical track record because too often they are made with aspirations for money instead of quality, according to Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull, producer of the upcoming Warcraft movie based on Blizzard Entertainment's beloved fantasy franchise.

"Doing a video game movie has not really been done well, and I think part of the reason for that is it's been done for the wrong reasons," Tull told IGN. "If you simply say 'How many people have played the game? How much money can we make?' You're doomed. You're doomed right off the start."

Tull, of course, says Warcraft will be different, thanks in part to director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code), and the cast he's been able to assemble.

"We hope that when you see the first trailer for it, you're going to say 'OK, this is not what I was expecting.' He's an incredibly exciting filmmaker," Tull said.

Tull is in business to sell you on the idea that the Warcraft movie will be great, but fans will get to decide for themselves when the first trailer is released. Asked when it would arrive, Tull said, "We show up every summer at Comic-Con--we really enjoy it, and the fans seem to enjoy taking a look at things, so I wouldn't be surprised."

Last summer at Comic-Con, Jones showed off a mood piece for the Warcraft movie, though this video has never been published publicly. We've seen an image from the movie's set, but that's it so far. Finally, Tull offered a tease about the plot for Warcraft, suggesting it will closely follow two tribes.

"With a great cast, there's a lot of folks to follow, so I'd look more in that direction because there's so many talented people working on it," he said. "We're very aware of the fact that in the mythology of Warcraft, there are two tribes--two big things to follow. We think you're going to get a chance to look at both."

Tull didn't say more, though it's possible the two groups he's referring to are Orcs and Humans. Jones previously said that the movie would focus on the origin story of the battle between Orcs and Humans.

Warcraft hits theaters in March 2016.

Though movies based on video games don't have a great critical track record, the same can't be said for the commercial opportunity of such films. For instance, the recent Need for Speed movie bombed with critics, but it became profitable in under two weeks.

Alpha Protocol

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:27:00 +0000

Alpha Protocol 2 isn’t going to be happening any time soon, Obsidian Entertainment’s Chris Avellone has told VG247. Despite calls from the community for a Kickstarter project, the creative director says the decision isn’t his to make.

While not a terribly good game, Alpha Protocol still features some steamy moments. One of the hardest to acquire is a scene between the main protagonist and SIE, a mercenary. Like Bioware games, there are other erotic scenes in the game, but we’re going with this one in particular for now. This sexy scene occurs near the end of the game, provided you pick her to accompany you during the final mission. The graphics may not help the scene, but the overall package is fun.

Obsidian recently funded Project Eternity on Kickstarter, a game that looks to return to the roots of classic RPG games. It’s a new IP, but as Avellone explained, while new IP is fine for crowd sourcing, established IP is a different story.

“I’ve tried to let people know that Kickstarter isn’t the place for funding someone else’s franchise,” Avellone said, “Sega owns Alpha Protocol, for example, Dungeons and Dragons is Hasbro. That’s a different kettle of fish.”

“We’d love to do sequels to these games that we’ve worked on, but that’s often not up to us, and it’s not something we could do through Kickstarter, really, or I couldn’t see how they might be done.”

You can check out out full Project Eternity Interview today, and head over to the Project Eternity Kickstarter to check out Obsidian’s ambitious project.

The Top 10 Video games of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 04:07:00 +0000

This year was an evolutionary, not revolutionary, one for console gaming. Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are long in tooth, likely to be refreshed next year, and developers acknowledged it was tough to eke out improvements in graphics. The Wii U’s late-November release lacked “wow” factor, with only lukewarm reviews for its hardware and still-small stable of games.

This was largely a year of the sequel: Nearly all the big games had a II or III or a 4 in its title. The results weren’t always good.

But if gaming in 2012 is remembered for anything, it will likely be for efforts by publishers to more deeply engage gamers in new and different ways. There was the emergence of smartphones and tablets as second screens via companion apps. There was also a proliferation of downloadable content to enhance game play and storytelling. Some chose to cast aside the traditional controller, hoping to turn the gamer into a human joystick. Absent a holiday sales boost, lackluster sales indicate the world may not be quite ready for that.

And 2012 was also about the knitting of social networking into the fabric of games, pulling niche communities together on company servers, eschewing Facebook FB -1.74%, or at least relegating it to second-tier status.

With those themes in mind, here are Speakeasy’s Top 10 Games of 2012.

1. Dishonored (developed by Arkane Studios, published by Bethesda) – In a year where rhetoric far outstripped results, this game is an epic. As I noted in my full review, Dishonored’s most-interesting feature is its Chaos game engine, which introduces subtlety and nuance into gameplay. Your actions and choices — to kill or not to kill, to kill violently or to use poison, for example — affect the twists and turns in your storyline. Dishonored seldom plays the same way twice. It’s hard to put down the controller once you’re in the middle of the story, perhaps the highest compliment you can give a game. It’s rare to find one that gets you as white-knuckled from sneaking around stealthily as blasting away at enemies. While graphics aren’t spectacular, the dystopic, steampunk world of Dunwall is well-done. Dishonored’s engrossing gameplay had overtones of my favorite game of all-time, Skyrim.

2. Halo 4 (developed by 343 Industries, published by Microsoft MSFT +0.37% Studios) – Just when I thought developers couldn’t squeeze an ounce of mprovement from the Xbox 360, 343 Industries confounded me and produced the year’s best cinematographic grapihcs. But that’s not the only reason this shooter is near the top of this list. The first game in a new Halo trilogy has a completely retooled multiplayer mode. Hat tip to developers for keeping the storyline going through regular serialization. Halo 4 kept gamer interest high via weekly short-movie episodes and related downloadable content.

3. Sleeping Dogs (developed by United Front Games, published by Square Enix) – This is the sleeper game of the year, in my book, and to think it almost never made it to market. With cancellation, a change of publishers and a rescue effort and renaming by Square Enix, Sleeping Dogs’ backstory is almost as complex as its gameplay. The open-world action game is set in a vivid, virtual Hong Kong that’s grittier than the real thing. The quest by undercover cop Wei Shen to bring down the Sun Yee On triad and the killers of his sister is marked by morality plays. This dark hero feels straight out of a Hong Kong kung-fu movie and is, hands down, the most-complex and empathetic character I played as in 2012 games.

4. FIFA Soccer 13 (developed by EA Canada, published by Electronic Arts EA -0.99%) – Faced with serious competition from Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, EA upped its game and produced the best sports simulation of the year. Improved collision physics, more-realistic ball control, smarter computer opponents and the return of national team call-ups keep the two-decade franchise going strong.The AI this year also ports real-world performance of actual stars into the fitness and form of those on your virtual team, affecting gameplay. Ultimate Team mode is better than last year, and though I give EA an “A” for effort to make the FIFA community tighter than ever by introducing a companion app, it gets a “D” for the app’s bugginess and rudimentary functionality. It’s a good direction to go, but the execution needs to be better.

5. Mass Effect 3 (developed by BioWare, published by Electronic Arts) — The denouement of the three-part Command Shepard saga generated a lot of buzz — much of it critical — over a controversial extended cut that included an alternative ending to the series. Kerfuffle aside, it’s a very good third-person shooter with excellent graphics and smooth gameplay. Reaper enemies are smarter, and overall AI is more-realistic over the second game. An intriguing twist to the game is the four-person co-op mode, where results can affect how your single-player campaign unfolds.

6. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (developed by Blitz Game Studios and Junction Point Studios, published by Disney Interactive Studios) – With publishers trying to squeeze as much money out the 18-35 crowd, there’s not that much out there in console gaming for the youngsters. Epic Mickey 2 is wholesome family fun . While it’s fun enough , with music and cartoon characters or the under-12 crowd to just muck around, its plot and puzzles are deep and challenging enough to lure in parents to help their kids. It also then becomes a fun jaunt through memory lane. The second in what designer Warren Spector intends to be a three-story arc, is better than the original. The original was Wii-only. This game is available on multiple platforms. Both graphics and gameplay are improved.

7. The Darkness II (developed by Digital Extremes, published by 2K Games) – I’m going to take some heat for this choice, but I really liked The Darkness II. The psychological, horror-tinged first-person shooter gets my nod on this list over other games, like Hitman 3 and Assassin’s Creed 3. It pretty much stands alone in the creepy, violent game category. The Darkness II plays like a noir comic book, turning the gore into something ludicrous and making it bearable. I never really identified with the sociopathic protagonist, Jackie Estacado, but gameplay was extremely fun and pretty challenging.

8. Street Fighter X Tekken (developed and published by Capcom) – This game beats out UFC 3 by a broken nose. Yes, it’s “just” a 2D fighting game, but the combination of Street Fighter and Namco’s Tekken characters does more than just slap a new coat of paint on an old franchise. Street Fighter X Tekken is both a familiar enhancement to a genre remembered by gamers in their 30’s and 40’s and a worthy introduction to the younger set. With no over-the-top character development or convoluted plots, there’s not much studying required. Controls are fairly easy to master, letting you focus on picking your fighters and kicking butt in tag-team matches.

9. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (developed by Treyarch, published by Activision) - Black Ops II ‘s gameplay and graphics cement this series as the best first-person war game. The Alex Mason single-player campaign mode, set both in the 1980s and the future, probably won’t win any awards, but it’s better than what Spec Ops: The Line and Medal of Honor: Warfighter had to offer this year. COD has always excelled at multiplayer mode, and this version is the best ever. Rendering of objects and items is sharper than in the previous game, maps are detailed and well-drawn. Gun choices, various multiplayer games and other personalizations will keep the headset-wearing crowd and their clans playing long into the night. This game also takes players online, with Call of Duty Elite offering enhanced gameplay, tutorials and other services. Players can sign up for free and use it online or via mobile apps.

10. Diablo III (developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment) – This action/role-playing game for PC and Macs generated controversy even before it hit the shelves. Authorities in several countries claimed the publisher hadn’t been clear enough in indicating the game was online-only and required a high-speed Internet connection to play, as well as issues with digital DRM and the lack of resale-ability of the game. That and balky servers marred the first few days after release, but they can’t mar the excitement that comes from Diablo III’s gameplay. You choose from among five character classes as you investigate a supposed fallen star in New Tristram. Diablo III is a very bloody, dungeon-crawl game. It’s highly customizable and the Havok engine introduces enough randomness so you won’t get bored as you progress. This is the lone computer-only game on this list. It is, from graphics to vastness of fantasy world to smoothness of gameplay, very different from any other game I played this year. I included it because it shows what’s possible when developers aren’t limited by legacy hardware.

By Adam Najberg

Magic The Gathering - Duels of The Planeswalkers 2013

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:48:00 +0000

Magic The Gathering: Duels of The Planeswalkers 2013 is the latest game based on the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. There are several computer games based on Magic: The Gathering, and it's easy to roll your eyes and think "Not another one!", but Wizards of The Coast have managed to keep each game different, of the current generation, Tactics is an attractive game with a strategy twist that aims to appeal to the more serious tournament players, Magic Online is a plain and Duels of the Planeswalkers offers some a nice selection of single player campaigns and some online play (but it's generally not as "serious" as Tactics).

Magic The Gathering: Duels of The Planeswalkers 2013 is available on Xbox 360, PS3, iOS, and PC. This review is based on the PC version (although we did download the trial of the iOS version to see what it was like, and it seemed to run well). This game is not just a quick graphics skin of Planeswalkers 2012 with a few new decks. There are quite a few differences.

Wizards of The Coast are currently working hard to bring new people in to the world of Magic. They're working with trading card and comic book stores, reaching out to the online community, and offering a lot of support to new players. Magic The Gathering: Duels of The Planeswalkers 2013 has been tweaked so that it is easy for newcomers to pick up and play, but it should also provide a challenge for more experienced players.

I have played paper Magic before (but it's been a while), and I'm a huge fan of Tactics, so it didn't take long to get back into the swing of playing Duels of the Planeswalkers. The first few bits of the campaign should be a breeze for anyone that has experience playing trading card games. The scenarios are tailored to teach players basic mechanics, and how to counter various tactics, so as you play through the campaign you'll have encounters with bosses that have specific play styles - for example one early opponent basically swarms you with cheap creatures, another uses trample extensively, and so on. The encounters get progressively harder. The Planeswalkers that you meet should be pretty well-known to experienced players, and if you're a new player (or just want to refresh your memory) you can read the backstories of all of them in-game.

Interesting additions this year include ten new decks (and some cards that are being released in the computer game before making it into the paper game!), optional manual mana tapping, and the return of Magic Puzzles. These puzzles range from the pretty simple, to the incredibly fiendish.

The Planechase mode adds a nice new dimension to the game. In this mode, there's a shared deck of oversized cards that both players have access to. These cards can do a number of things, from killing units or debuffing certain types of units so that they do no damage, to allowing you to gain life on your upkeep. Actions (move to the next plane, or trigger the planar card) are determined by a six-sided planar die with four blank sides and two marked sides (one side bears the Planeswalker symbol, which means that you uncover a new plane card; the other side bears the Chaos symbol, which triggers an immediate effect based on the plane card in play). This adds an element of randomness to multiplayer games.

The graphics in the game are polished, and look good on all platforms, including the iPad 2. The audio is suitably atmospheric too. The one issue I did have was the controls - while you can play with keyboard and mouse on the PC, many of the menus feel like they're designed for use with a controller or touch-screen. Scrolling through menus slowly on a PC is irritating. Fortunately, that's just the menus, and you can play through the rest of the game without too much trouble.

Magic The Gathering: Duels of The Planeswalkers 2013 is a good addition to the Magic series. The single player game is nice for when you have a few minutes. The multiplayer is fun too, and the Planechase mode makes for an enjoyable, accessible four player game. The plane cards are a nice equalizer, and make novices more willing to play.

For the price, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is a good buy. I would have liked to see deeper deck building options, but on reflection, that's not what this game is about. I can imagine many newcomers to Magic the Gathering really enjoying this game (and hardcore players picking it up just to check out the new decks and scenarios). If you fall in love with Magic and want more depth, you can always pick up the paper decks (you get a voucher for a booster pack for paper Magic when you buy this game), or graduate to Tactics.

Battlefield 3 PC Review: Back in Action

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:43:00 +0000

My Battlefield obsession borders on legendary, with roots dating all the way back to the 1942 days, back when I still owned a joystick. Though young, I was quickly weaned off the arena based shooters early in my FPS gaming childhood and discovered a more refined shooter palette. Certain expectations are placed upon the Battlefield player, including an acquaintance with team-based mechanics, such as utility, longevity, strategy, and malleability. Having adopted these concepts early on, I never truly had a taste for the more casual shooters, or even the faster, harsher arena-style games. Battlefield 2, to me, was the epitome of the shooter genre.

As such, my excitement for Battlefield 3 was almost palpable in the days leading up to its release. Finally, a true heir to the mixed-arms throne. Yet now I sit here, jabbing away at the keyboard, entirely conflicted. Despite Battlefield 3 delivering on virtually all fronts, I have found that my tastes have shifted slightly in the years since Battlefield 2’s release. Battlefield 3 is a fantastic game, no doubt, but as the sum of all its parts the title falls short of expectations. While the multiplayer portion of the game is exactly what we’ve been waiting for – a worthy successor to Battlefield 2 – the single-player might have be better served by another year or two in the can.

The original Battlefield 2 lacked a real story mode, focusing instead on strategic, class-based multiplayer combat, but DICE has adapted what it learned from the spinoff Bad Company series to develop a campaign mode, complete with an epic storyline featuring earthquakes, political intrigue, high speed chases, and amazing visual spectacles. Though a welcome addition, the single player game is ultimately overshadowed by the incredible multiplayer offering.

The truth is, though DICE made much progress in its narrative design, the game feels a bit too much like its competitors, rendering it a somewhat bland experience. Destructible environments and crazy visual effects are certainly welcome additions, but ultimately I felt let down by the game’s somewhat disjointed narrative. Readers will no doubt detect a bit of irony in what I am about to say, but Battlefield 3’s plot feels like a video game.

What I mean by that is the game’s narrative feels like an excuse of sorts, existing only to attach multiple set pieces together. An early mission, where the player co-pilots a fighter jet, was utterly heart pounding, but after it ended I was left scratching my head, asking, “What was the point of that, again?”. This feeling resurfaced several times during my sessions with the game.

What’s more, I’ve grown increasingly weary of hallway shooter games over the past decade. Games like BF3 and COD carry story modes that are largely centered around shooting gallery-esque scenarios which are practically interchangeable and totally irrelevant to the plot. Though these scenarios can be fun, the challenge is largely artificial. When I die in BF3, I am just frustrated, because it feels like the carrot the game is dangling is mostly unwanted and undeserved. I’m not making any progress in my own personal narrative, I’m merely clearing out the hundredth room full of generic terrorists so that the game can continue telling its story to me.

This is only compounded by some practically unavoidable deaths. By and large, they don’t come off as cute or surprising – they’re just entirely unwanted. I was becoming invested in the storyline of BF3, and as such I think this game, and others like it, need to develop a new punishment system other than deaths and checkpoints. It merely hinders my progress and ultimately proves to make the experience more frustrating than tense or compelling.

In that sense, I can only recommend the single player offering to people who are invested in military narratives or those who genuinely enjoy the more of the same things shooters have been peddling for the past decade. I will say this in its defense, though: The graphics and design throughout the game are phenomenal. The game looks great, even running on my dated hardware. Materials look and behave realistically (barring flying tanks), and there are so many tiny aesthetic features that it makes the world feel believable and fun. To some extent, I do believe that some of the effects that are featured in the game (falling skyscrapers, for instance) are totally worth seeing. I just can’t say that the narrative leading up to these events will always be compelling enough to keep you going, though things certainly pick up towards the end of the campaign.

If you’re anything like me, though, you’re looking to pick up this game for its multiplayer. Rest assured that this component of BF3 is a true evolution in the franchise’s lineage. Between the destructible environments, new weapons and vehicles, and large assortment of changes inspired by the Bad Company series, this game delivers on all fronts.

For the uninitiated, Battlefield’s offerings differ from other shooters through their strategic, class based, mixed-arms style tactical play. Though there are multiple game modes, Conquest holds the standard for the franchise, dividing players into two opposing factions and pitting them against one another for control of strategic locations. Multiple vehicles are available, though all are capped at a relatively limited number per team, balancing out the small arms gameplay with aerial dogfighting, heavy armor battles, and APC maneuverability. When thrown together, the game gives players a multitude of gameplay options, all the while encouraging team play over Rambo-style run-and-gun models.

Battlefield 3 places you into battles that seem organized and driven rather than chaotic and confusing. Locked spawn points means that you will always find yourself among friendly bodies, even going so far as to let you spawn on your squadmates in the middle of the battlefield. Staying alive opens up a mobile spawn point for any squad member, actually inspiring careful gameplay.

The changes between the earlier games and this sequel are largely aesthetic, but some serious balancing has occurred between classes. For one, the Medic class has been combined with the Assault class, a move that I gladly welcome. The Support class, which carries the heaviest weaponry, now takes the role of delivering munitions to allied players, as well as locking down territory with suppressive fire from large weaponry.

The biggest change, however, has occurred through the much-hated Recon class. Originally, the recon class was identified as a sniper. Its mechanics inadvertently encouraged camping and, ultimately, rendered the class somewhat useless in a real battle. The Recon class’ strategic utility was overshadowed by its powerful sniping potential, even in Bad Company 2, where DICE attempted to encourage a new style of play by giving Recons a tracking ball that displayed enemies to allied radars. Now, in Battlefield 3, the Recon class carries a mobile spawn point, encouraging players to move to the front lines, away from the back of the map where they might otherwise feel most at home.

There are also several new modes this time around, some plucked straight out of Bad Company 2, like Rush Mode. The large assortment of game modes and modifiers mean that anyone should be able to find a niche to fall into. Heck, you can even play squad deathmatch in smaller arenas a la COD, just in case you’re not entirely sold on the franchise’s epic, objective-driven mixed arms combat.

Also, for those still aching for some tangible rewards, there are a multitude of weapon unlocks available, all made available through steady play between multiple classes. As in Bad Company 2, weapons can carry minor customization, and though several of the late-tier weapons are powerful, the default weapons still hold their own tit-for-tat. The unlocks will keep players coming back, but as I’ve said in the past about fighting games, I hate unlocking content in a competitive game. I’d rather just have all the weapons immediately at my disposal, so I could swap setups for the specific situation at hand. I understand the appeal of progression-based rewards, but in the end it feels more like a minor inconvenience than anything else.

Another major change to multiplayer is the removal of an in-game browser. Now, before you leap from your seat to retrieve your pitchfork, let me explain how the new Battlelog works. Battlelog is, quite honestly, far better than the past versions of DICE’s in-game browser. Despite the clunky feeling that comes from launching from your web browser, Battlelog performs every action that the in-game menus used to, only now the entire process is much more efficient.

Stats like lag and player count are operated in quick time, and searching for servers is much, much faster. Now, while joining a game, your computer is no longer rendered inoperable. Since the game launches from a web-browser, you can surf the net, talk with friends, or ignore it altogether until the server makes a connection.

Also gone are the previous game-joining issues that would boot players before the game had properly loaded. Battlelog is able to connect to servers much faster than the previous in-game browser, and you’ll never have an issue with joining matches that fill up between when you first hit the launch button and actually connect to the server.

Multiplayer, however, is not without its flaws. With the new graphics come a multitude of new hindrances, even ignoring hardware limitations. Exploding buildings, new lighting effects, debris, and smoke will surround and overwhelm, meaning that there are more distractions on the field than ever. Upon first jumping into the game, I entirely lost my bearings several times, lost in a sea of bright orange explosions or collapsing debris. Things can become so tense, with aerial and armor support moving about, that I sometimes needed to find a corner to regroup in, to check my map and reevaluate my procedure.

For those familiar with BF2, flying jets is still extremely difficult with a mouse. If you can, find an old joystick if you’re serious about sitting in that pilot seat, otherwise prepare for a very harsh ride.

Also, at the time of writing, there were several hilarious glitches, including an extremely irritating graphical glitch that found my soldier’s arms impaled onto nearby walls, leaving his gun and limbs dangling from the surface while they disappeared from my view model. This was funny the first few times it happened, but quickly became a huge hassle, as I couldn’t aim properly without seeing my weapon. Also, while rare, there were a few instances where players shot me before they loaded into view. Invisible players had been a major complaint during the Beta, and to some extent the problem seems to have carried over. I assume these issues will be fixed soon enough, so I won’t place too much emphasis on the game’s bugs.

My one final complaint is that this game would have benefited from modding tools, as BF2′s longevity was driven, in part, by the dedicated modding community, who ensured that new content continued to come long after DICE had moved on to other projects.

For what it is, though, Battlefield 3 holds the title for best modern combat multiplayer shooter around. The flexibility in game modes, play styles, and roles give this game a crazy amount of strategic depth, not even mentioning its multitude of multiplayer modes and modifiers. This is a multiplayer game worthy of your attention, especially if you value tactical gameplay and adaptability. And heck, who knows, you might even enjoy the single player, for what it’s worth. Otherwise, I’ll see you on the Reddit server!

Battlefield 3 was released on October 25th, 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Review based on the PC version.

by Pride St. Clair

Home Makeover, PlayStation Edition

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:47:00 +0000

An extreme home makeover is underway that has nothing to do with reality television. PlayStation Home is being completely redesigned for a fall 2011 reveal, according to an announcement from Sony Computer Entertainment America.

It will no longer be the virtual world it was when it launched in 2008. Now PlayStation Home will offer a broader range of games, from social and casual games to immerse console challenges. There are already 230 games to play and 9,000 virtual items in place.

Central to the experience will be the Hub, a central point of entry from where players can get an overview of the available games, quests, community events and user-generated content. Gamers can then either “teleport” to free games and other districts, or explore other shopping, socialization and entertainment options. Additionally, the Hub will have its own activities, games and opportunities to earn virtual items.

Jack Buser, director of PlayStation Home, SCEA, said the revamp is part of PlayStation Home’s evolution from being a 3D virtual world into being a world of gaming.

“PlayStation Home’s new core experience is a giant leap in the evolution of the platform, not to mention a major milestone for PlayStation Network, and its new model quickly deploys our users to many compelling free-to-play games that fit their interests,” he said. “With this update, coming this fall, PlayStation Home becomes a game itself, making it the most robust gamified social experience available.”

In addition to the Hub, there will be four additional new zones, making it easier for users to find the type of activity they’re in the mood for. Each has an environment suited to its specialty: Action District, a gritty place for action and horror games; Sportswalk, featuring instant major league sports scores, headlines and highlights along with sports games; Adventure District, designed like a mysterious island jungle with hidden treasure and adventure-themed games; and Pier Park, a waterfront boardwalk home for carnival, puzzle, outdoor and arcade games.

SCEA reports PlayStation Home has more than 23 million registered users, with an average session time of 70 minutes per session.

Chris Marlowe / August 29, 2011 6:00 am

World of Warcraft Russian style?

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 04:09:00 +0000

World of Warcraft. © Flickr.com/juanpol/cc-byAdd caption

Russian IT-specialists and bloggers are actively discussing the loud initiative of President Dmitry Medvedev, who has come up with a proposal to work out a Russian analog of the World of Warcraft network game, which is very popular in the world today, basing it on the Russian history.

As is known, Dmitry Medvedev, who has gained a good understanding of new technologies, is well aware of the fact that the world has gone mad over computer games. The latter came up for discussion at a recent meeting recently that was dedicated to the festivities on the occasion of the upcoming 1150th anniversary of the Russian statehood. Speaking about the ways to study history, the President said that the great success of the World of Warcraft game in the world shows that it’s high time that we should start thinking about inventing a similar initiative in Russia.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the World of Warcraft is the most popular game in the world today. 12 million people played this game in October last year. Of course, it can’t replace a history textbook, but, as the President said, “it contains quite a number of destructive initiatives, and besides, it has a subtext about developing human civilization.” The idea to create a Russian analog of this game means that the on-line games have become a new media in Russia and that the State is ready to recognize their existence.” However, to create a clone of the previously mentioned game which has won great popularity in the world is impossible, an expert on computer games, Kirill Alekhin, says:

"It is impossible to create the World of Warcraft game new style in Russia. The developers in many countries have been working on this for many years now. An attempt to create the game similar to the one that was mentioned above will require dozens of millions of dollars and many years. The World of Warcraft game is a one-of-a-kind game, which was created by the efforts of many geniuses. Several attempts were made in Russia to invent a game similar to the World of Warcraft. We can mention here Allods Online, which is spread on the Internet on a free-of-charge basis. The game Allods Online is based on the Russian realities. However, the Russian game can’t compete with the game World of Warcraft because it is simply an attempt to recreate the success of others."

And still, nobody calls into question the professionalism of Russian developers of online games. There’re games which have won the popularity of millions of people in Russia. Many new popular programmes appear on the market every year. For example, the “Domovyata” game, which was invented by the Prixonic Company, ranked among the top 10 games of not only Russian but also foreign social networks last year.

That is why some specialists believe that Medvedev’s idea to create something similar to the World of Warcraft and then to promote its popularity is quite realizable in Russia. Besides, you should not forget that the industry of online games is one of the most profitable types of Internet-businesses. Top entertainments in the social networks enable their creators to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars every day.

Play PC games on your iPad later this year

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:27:00 +0000

The iPad 2 might be a pretty sick machine for games, but it lacks capabilities that traditional video gamers crave – the power to play full retail titles that one might see on a PC or a game console.

That’s all about to change, because not only can the iPad play PC games, it can play them pretty damn well. And it can do it with a real-live game controller.

During the Electronic Entertainment Expo Tuesday in Los Angeles, I got a chance to mess around with the updated version of the OnLive app for iPad. OnLive is a cloud-based video gaming service that actually allows players to stream full games to their PCs and a specially made micro-console that hooks up to a TV.

The power of OnLive is that it allows players to get in on PC games without having a powerful computer capable of playing those top-tier games, and it bypasses the need for an expensive console (the micro-console only runs $99 and OnLive often gives it away for free with pre-orders of big-name games). The service just passed the 100-game mark, and it also has an iPad and Android app that lets users spectate on what other players are currently playing.

But later this year, OnLive will update the apps to make them actually compatible with playing games. That’s right – the free app allows you to stream PC games and play them on your iPad (or Android tablet). You only need pay for the game just like you would if you purchased it in a store or rented it, unless you opt for OnLive’s monthly subscription service that includes better than 50 games in an all-you-can-play setup, and you’re ready to go.

On the show floor at E3, I tested out OnLive’s improvements using the game’s virtual controller. The setting lays see-through buttons on the screen just like many iPad games already do. It was by no means an ideal way of playing the game, but it was possible, and it’s hard to overplay the fact that I was running Red Faction: Guerrilla, a PC and console game, on an iPad.

Virtual controls are available immediately to everyone, but the real way to play OnLive will be with a controller. The app supports a universal controller that likely will be paired to the iPad using a Bluetooth connection. That one addition suddenly turns the iPad into a video game console, complete with all the accoutrements – it just requires an Internet connection to play. Better still, iPad mirroring currently available with iOS 4.3 and an HDMI adapter allows you to play OnLive right on your TV using your iPad as the console, and when iOS 5 rolls out in the fall, you’ll be able to do it wirelessly with Apple TV.

OnLive’s app is set to take the tablets in an entirely new direction – hardcore, real live video gaming. The only question that remains right now is “when?”

“Homefront” video game from THQ looks at United States under occupation

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:04:00 +0000

It’s 2027, and a reunified Korea has invaded the United States.

That’s the premise of “Homefront,” a new video game from THQ that explores what might happen if Americans were forced to form a resistance to an invading army.

The game’s lead level designer, Rex Dickson, said the game deals with the foreign occupation of America, and how that could come about.

“We have what we call pillars, or guiding statements, and one of those pillars was ‘familiar has become alien,’” Dickson said. “We did a lot of research into post-peak oil, what would happen after an oil crash, when gas was no longer available. What would our country look like if democracy were to fall apart, or fail, when there were no jobs left, when things began to get more and more abandoned?”

Dickson said designers looked at some modern cities, where large neighborhoods have been abandoned in the throes of the Great Recession.

“Anyone in the United States who grew up in suburbia will immediately understand these places,” he said.

The “Homefront” game is expected to spawn sequels and already has led to a novel, “Homefront: The Voice of Freedom,” by John Milius and Raymond Benson, exploring the game’s backstory.

“Homefront is set to become one of THQ’s most successful original IP launches,” said Danny Bilson, EVP Core Games, THQ, in a release. “The team at Kaos (has) spent three years building an FPS (first person shooter) that competes with the very best, offering a thrilling and original single-player experience and hundreds of hours of multiplayer.”

THQ is providing dedicated servers for console and PC versions of “Homefront.”

“Dedicated servers allow us to support 32 players on large maps with infantry, vehicles and drones, and level the playing field compared to titles that rely on user-hosted games,” said Drew Como, director of infrastructure, THQ.

In the game, the reunified Korea acts much like Japan in World War II, island-hopping until it is able to control large portions of Asia.

“They attack the United States with an electromagnetic pulse weapon, and that is a very real-world threat,” Dickson said. “It knocks out all electricity and computer devices and shuts down all communication.”

This allows the Korean army to mount an incursion into the United States.

“The Koreans don’t do a full-scale invasion of the United States; they go after pockets here and there,” trying to take over resource-heavy areas, Dickson said.

The game was written by Milius, who co-wrote the film “Apocalypse Now” and wrote and directed “Red Dawn.”

“While ‘Red Dawn’ is closest in terms of its depiction of civilian resistance, ‘Apocalypse Now’ … was much closer to what we were going for in terms of tone,” Dickson said. “This is a very dark, serious game. We wanted to get away from the … thrill-a-minute action movie.”

Milius established the arc and created a strong focus on the civilian storyline. The players take on the role of a civilian resistance force in Colorado.

“He’s been giving us feedback constantly on what would make sense for resistance fighters, and things that a civilian resistance would be capable of versus a professional soldier and squad.”

Dickson said many Americans are used to living in a resource-rich environment, and one of the questions the game wants players to ask themselves is how they might react in a dangerous, desperate situation.

“We’re trying to pull on that emotion and ask that question. … Maybe it’s very unlikely that we could ever be invaded, but what if?” Dickson said. “And you know, even just asking that question makes people very uncomfortable. But that’s exactly what the game is all about.”

- By Matthew Price

Russia needs to develop computer games industry - Medvedev

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 06:13:00 +0000

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday the country needs to develop its own computer games industry.

"We cannot always count on foreign games; there is always space for them on the Russian market," Dmitry Medvedev said at a session of the Commission on Modernization and Technological Development of Russia's Economy.

He added that one of the committee's future sessions would be devoted to discussing the development of the computer technology industry.

The Russian president visited on Thursday a factory of computers and computer games producer Craftway Corporation.

He was shown the computer game "Il-2 Fighter," which is set in World War II and features Russian combat aircraft.

"This is a good way to see the development of events at that time," Medvedev said, adding that nowadays teenagers are more interested in playing computer games than reading books.

OBNINSK (Moscow Region), April 29 (RIA Novosti)

Computer games get physical

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:33:00 +0000

You can’t have a realistic gaming experience without using the rules of physics – the calculations involved are what make the difference between stick figures that jitter across the screen and 3D characters that sweat and stumble, writes Cian Traynor

TODAY’S MOST advanced computer games are powered by software called physics engines. Loaded with a library of scientific definitions, they allow computer games to predict how an object should behave by translating what happens in the real world.

When computer games were animated manually, almost everything was pre-scripted. If your player knocked over an object, it fell the same way every time. Now predefined animations have been replaced with fluid movements, allowing for different possibilities and greater realism. If you knock into a crate from the side, it will fall properly to the left or right depending on how you knocked into it, making the scene so interactive that the characters’ actions and reactions can be different every time.

“What we’re really doing is the kind of equations people learn in fifth and sixth year physics classes,” says Dave Gargan, vice president of engineering at Havok, a Dublin-based software company whose engines are used in over 200 titles including Halo 3 and Half-Life 2 .

When Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, its pioneering use of physics helped usher in a new era of interactive gaming. The player often had to manipulate objects while accounting for factors such as gravity, mass, density and restitution – all of which needed to be computed as they happened.

“Newton’s laws of motion are exactly what we’re calculating in each frame,” says Gargan. “Every time the computer draws a new image, we have to compute all those equations about 30 times a second and solve them.The only problem is doing that computation quickly enough.”

Integration calculates the future position of an object, such as a character or a car, based on its current position, velocity and acceleration. To free up enough computation time, elements of the game that aren’t in use remain in “sleep mode”.

In a racing game, for example, a barrier only becomes “awake” when a car crashes into it. This is where collision detection comes into play: it works out when one thing hits another thing and how it hits it. Without those calculations, characters would walk through walls.

“When you see games that don’t utilise physics, your eyes can tell,” says Chris Allen, lead behaviour engineer at NaturalMotion, whose Euphoria engine is used in Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed .

“The biggest law of physics in games is the conservation of momentum, because if a guy stops instantly, it makes things look artificial.”

If you get the building blocks of physics right – from how a shoulder joint should move to how a bullet should bounce – it doesn’t matter how complex or how big that virtual world becomes.

“If you can calculate how a bullet collides with a brick then you can make a wall, then a house and then a city,” says Allen. “The rules of collision will work in all situations, so you can build away without having to worry whether something like ballistics will still work.”

By handling all the game physics, these engines give developers more time to work on other aspects of the game, such as graphics and storylines.

This means that not only can the engine and content be designed separately but reusable engines make it easier and faster to develop sequels to games.

'NASCAR of the Skies'

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:57:00 +0000

The soon-to-launch Rocket Racing League recently debuted elements of its innovative, video game-like, 3-D virtual racetrack in the sky. Real-life pilots will zoom through virtual "gates" and other simulated raceway structures that audiences will see recreated on Jumbotrons and computer screens.

When fully developed, this style of "augmented reality" game play that enhances the physical world with computer-generated graphics could expand technological frontiers in sports and in everyday life.

Rather than virtual add-ons just for television viewers – a well-established practice in sports broadcasting from pitch placements in baseball to world record-pace lines added to Olympic swim lanes – the graphics in the Rocket Racing League will be integral to the action.

In this way, the Rocket Racing League "is melding high-end dynamic video games with the real world," said Michael D'Angelo, the league's chief operations officer.

The plan, in essence, is to take football's yellow "first down" line – another classic example of augmented reality – pump it up on steroids, and make it so that "players and the fans will be able to see it," D'Angelo said.

From inside the helmet to you

At the QuickTrip Air & Rocket Racing Show in Tulsa, Okla. on Saturday, the Rocket Racing League showed off its new-and-improved Mark III X-racer and flew a special Cessna 402B plane that demoed some of the augmented reality package under development.

To see the virtual racetrack that they will be flying through, pilots will wear custom Targo Racer helmets made by Israel-based defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd., which until now have only been used for military purposes.

Within the Targo Racer helmet, a projector beams graphics and data onto a rather ordinary-looking, transparent safety visor that goes across the pilot's eyes.

These graphics show the pilot where to fly via colored gates and boundary markers, plus give real-time data on aircraft altitude, attitude, speed and the status of other racers.

By combining Global Positioning System coordinates for the aircraft with line-of-sight sensors, the system intuitively "knows" how to accurately render the computer-generated racetrack and other visual elements based on the pilot's gaze.

"Once we know where the pilot's head is looking, we can generate into the helmet display all of the portion of the virtual track that we need in real space," said Yaron Kranz, senior director of business development and research and development for helmet mounted systems at Elbit.

Other key aspects of the graphical technology come from the Maryland Advanced Development Laboratory and Orad, the pioneers of football's famous first-down line and prominent makers of on-screen graphics for everything from sporting events to elections.

"The augmented reality is very streamlined for the purpose of the pilot," D'Angelo told TechNewsDaily. "It doesn’t need to look pretty and have a 'wow' factor . . . it needs to provide the pilot with navigation aids and safety cues and race metrics to allow him to better compete."

Visual fireworks

Spectators, however, should be in for a visual treat because plenty of audience-only, computer-generated eye candy will be layered on top of the in-race skyscapes created from video feeds from the cockpit cam and air-and-ground cameras.

For example, as shown in Tulsa, when a rocket racer successfully flies through a virtual gate, D'Angelo said a "beautiful cascade of fireworks" might light up screens showing the event, including on-site Jumbotrons to television sets and mobile devices.

These synthetic elements will be richly textured in 3-D to reflect light and viewing angles, appearing much like video-game graphics except that the racers (and the contest itself) are real.

Synchronizing the spatial dimensions of what the pilot sees with the physical location and vector of a roaring X-racer will require some major computer legwork, D'Angelo said.

"The computers are aware of the calibration and of the physics of the cameras being fed into them," he explained, allowing the league's software programs to establish an integrated framework of the space surrounding its X-racers.

Streaming video from these rockets while they bust aerobatic loops and rolls at up to 300 miles per hour (483 kilometers per hour) to the ground has presented technical challenges of its own, including camera and antenna placement, but for now all signs point to go, D'Angelo said.

Games consoles - all things to all men?

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:12:00 +0000

Could a games console sit at the heart of your lounge room?

Some people think consoles are just for playing games, but if you look a little closer you'll find Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 are very powerful entertainment devices. Even Nintendo's Wii has a few tricks up its sleeve. Movies, music, television, surfing the web - your modern games console lets you do it all, although there are a few catches.

The PlayStation 3 is obviously the home entertainment leader thanks to its built-in Blu-ray player. Along with this, Sony sells the PlayTV adaptor that turns the PS3 into a Personal Video Recorder for recording digital TV broadcasts. The icing on the cake is access to the ABC's iView service, with other services expected to follow as Sony expands its Bravia Internet Television platform.

At the moment the PS3's Achilles' Heel is the lack of a movie rental service, which is scheduled to come to Australia this year. Surprisingly this is where the Xbox 360 steps up to the plate - with Microsoft introducing an impressive Australian movie rental service for the Xbox 360 late last year. It's not as slick as using the iTunes store on an Apple TV, but it still runs rings around TiVo's mediocre CASPA service and Telstra's woeful Bigpond Movies.

Of course the Xbox 360 falls short in many other areas. Not surprisingly Microsoft has discontinued the external HD DVD player, but the real surprise is that the Xbox 360 lacks a web browser - so you can't access Catch Up TV services such as iView. One work around is to use the Xbox 360 as a media extender box to take control of a Windows media centre elsewhere on your home network.

Both consoles have one more trick that opens up a world of possibilities - the ability to stream content from a DLNA server, whether it be a DLNA-enabled network drive, a Windows box running Windows Media Player or any computer running third party DLNA server software such as TVersity, PlayOn or PS3 Media Server.

If you've got a large download library courtesy of uTorrent, combining a DLNA server with a games console is an easy way to watch your downloads on your television. If you run a US-based Virtual Private Network on the computer running the DLNA server, you can easily access a wealth of US-only online content such as Hulu.

Even the Nintendo Wii can get in on the action if you install the Internet Channel web browser, which is available for free from the Shopping Channel, and point it at your DLNA server. Sadly you don't get the same video quality as you would from one of the more powerful games consoles with more graphics grunt and HDMI video outputs.

Is there a games console in your lounge room? Do you use it for more than playing games?

Japan's video game visionary: the console is dying (Metal Gear Solid)

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 06:48:00 +0000

HIDEO Kojima, one of the world's most famous video game creators, sees a future for digital entertainment outside the box - outside any box.

Kojima, whose 'Metal Gear Solid' games have sold more than 27 million copies, says the future of video gaming is on networks that will free players from consoles supplied by the likes of his long-time partner Sony Corp.

'In the near future, we'll have games that don't depend on any platform,' Kojima said at a news conference announcing the latest installment in a game saga that began in 1987.

'Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel - wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience,' he said.

Kojima was speaking at an event in Tokyo to detail plans for the late April launch of 'Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker,' a video game he developed and directed and Konami Corp is launching for Sony's portable PSP device.

The prediction of a future without game machines from a figure regarded as both creative maverick and commercial dynamo appeared to rattle a Sony executive on hand for the event.

'It's a bold prediction,' Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kawano told reporters with a nervous smile.

'We hope he continues to develop for platforms, but we deeply respect his sense of taking on a challenge.'

'Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker' goes on sale in Japan at the end of April and the United States and Europe in June.

Kojima, 46, is known for sneaking pacifist themes into a game series that features stealth combat and elaborate plot lines that often reflect on the dangers of technology.

The latest installment features Metal Gear's mercenary hero, Snake, as he and a group of soldiers of fortune set off to save Costa Rica from invasion in 1974 by a mysterious army.

Kojima said players are rewarded for cooperating and encouraged to stun and capture - not kill - enemy soldiers they encounter in order to put them to work.

'This is software that develops management skills,' Kojima said. 'You can even fire workers, something that you can't really do in real life. In the game, I couldn't stop doing it.'

Kojima has said he hopes to develop movies as well as video games. Like recent Hollywood productions, his latest game is packed with product placements to bring in additional revenue, including AXE bodywash from Unilever and Doritos corn chips and Mountain Dew from PepsiCo.

Kojima said he hoped the release of the new game on Sony's PSP device would give his development team a sense of what works in portable gaming in preparation for his vision of gaming on demand over the Internet.

'I looked at this in part as an experiment aimed at the future,' he said.

Apple's iPad takes video gaming seriously

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:28:00 +0000

(Reuters) - Apple's iPad tablet computer hasn't been out a week yet but there are already over 830 video games that have been developed to suit the large format, high definition, multi-touch screen.

Technology | Lifestyle | Media

That number doesn't even include the nearly 25,000 iPod Touch and iPhone games that will also play on Apple's latest gadget which is a mix between a smartphone and a laptop but also clearly aims to cater for the growing numbers of gamers.

"The iPad is the fourth step in the gaming evolution," said Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president of publishing at Gameloft.

"The first being the microcomputer, the second being the game console and the third being smartphones. Each of these platforms revolutionized gaming in its own way."

Apple has already sold over 500,000 iPads and Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty forecasts the tech giant will ship 8 to 10 million iPads this year worldwide.

"Can the iPad sell 5 million devices in the first year without games and apps? Probably," said Kevin A. Wood, vice president and senior analyst of Technology Market Insights at research firm Infogroup/ORC.

"However, Apple's ability to re-define this space of the computing world will be dependent on its ability to sustain excitement. Apps and games redefined what a smartphone was and what it could be used for, and we suspect that will be the same situation for the iPad."

Peter Farago, vice president of marketing for research firm Flurry, said just over a third of the 2,300 plus apps currently available for iPad on iTunes.com are games, with entertainment apps ranking a distant second with 14 percent.

GAMING ON THE GO

He believes that games percentage will rise as Apple sells more hardware and attracts more game makers.

"I think people are going to be blown away by iPad when they actually have the opportunity to interact with it," said Neil Young, founder and CEO of the largest iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad game developer, ngmoco.

"When you play games on the large format, multi-touch fields using two hands it's much more 'Minority Report' than even the iPhone is."

With seven iPad games available at launch, ngmoco is taking advantage of the multi-touch screen by allowing players of games like "Godfinger" and "We Rule" to multitask by literally sliding small game windows aside so they can focus on the bigger playing field and then read the story progression or check out friends' castles in between.

Johnny Coghlan, head of publishing for Chillingo, which has 14 iPad games available, said the Wi-Fi and 3G capabilities allows for all of its games, including "Super Shock Football HD" and puzzle game "Quantz HD," to incorporate Crystal integration. This is the company's social gaming network that enables players to compete against one another and tout high scores.

With its large screen, game makers can offer multiplayer options on a single iPad.

Firemint's "Flight Control HD" offers split-screen competitive and cooperative gameplay for two players to successfully land a never-ending stream of planes.

Gameloft's virtual card game "Uno" allows up to four friends to gather around an iPad and play.

There are hundreds of free iPad games, while other games range in price from $5 to $13. Games range from EA Mobile's ubiquitous "Tetris" to SGN's third-person shooter "EXO-Planet."

Some publishers offer lower-priced iPod Touch/iPhone ports as well as slightly more expensive iPad versions that take advantage of the new functionality.

"By taking an existing iPhone game and modifying it for iPad we believe that it will not only bring a new experience to an existing title, but basically create a new game," said de Vallois.

For example, Gameloft's iPad shooter "N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance" allows players to use two fingers to curve a grenade toss and offers multi-targeting capabilities with a hand-drawn grid that eliminates all enemies on the screen with a rocket. The game originated on iPhone and iPod Touch.

"I think Apple learned their lesson about the importance of gaming from the iPhone and the iPod Touch," said Young. "It was really that first holiday season for the iPod Touch where Apple recognized and realized gaming was such a huge part of the business and the iPod Touch had found its home as a game machine."

In This Electronic War, Momentum Shifts to the Underdog

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Yup, I went there. I’m not taking refuge in nuances. Unlike many critics, I’m not weaseling out of making a tough call by saying that they are both great games.

Of course they are both great games, but no one can honestly reply, “I don’t care” when asked if you should pull into Burger King or McDonald’s. (Other suitable analogies: Toscanini versus von Karajan, Red Sox versus Yankees, Ginger versus Mary Ann.)

When it comes to these global mass-market products, everyone has a favorite. And when it comes to the latest generation of hard-core first-person combat shooters, I find Bad Company 2, released recently by Electronic Arts for Windows PCs, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, more sophisticated, more immersive, a boatload funnier and simply more interesting than Modern Warfare 2.

I think that phone ringing is Bobby Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard, publisher of the Call of Duty series, calling to tell me that he’s going to eat my heart for breakfast tomorrow while he enjoys his world-class art collection. O.K., I’m just joking about the threatened ventricle roasting. But those are the sorts of passions involved in the fight between E.A. and Activision for the loyalty (and money) of the serious shooter fans who collectively spend millions of hours every day playing these games.

The Call of Duty franchise, after all, has sold more than 55 million copies and generated around $3 billion in retail sales over the past seven years. The most recent game in the series, Modern Warfare 2, was the biggest commercial hit of 2009 and has already become one of the best-selling games of all time.

John Riccitiello, the chief executive at Electronic Arts, had only one hope of cracking Modern Warfare 2’s stranglehold on today’s shooter fan: the Stockholm game studio E.A. acquired in 2006 that is known as DICE.

As recently as five years ago the Swedish company’s Battlefield series was riding high. If you were a serious online PC shooter fan in the middle of the last decade, you were certainly playing Battlefield games. But then Activision swiped the market. Moving the Call of Duty games from World War II to the modern day made the games more exciting for many players.

The Call of Duty games included a robust offline component, allowing players to progress through a scripted story surrounded by computer-controlled opponents and comrades, while the most popular Battlefield games were essentially built to be played only online against other people. And players of Call of Duty were able to build a persistent online identity, so their virtual soldier would become more capable and deadly over time; earlier Battlefield warriors would almost always begin with the same abilities.

With Bad Company 2, the Battlefield series has now matched or exceeded the Call of Duty series in each of these areas.

First, modernity. Each franchise is actually quite similar in its fictional setting. In both series you play a Western soldier confronting a menace originating from the former Soviet Union.

But Bad Company 2 allows players to use a much broader range of modern military materiel, including tanks, helicopters, Humvees and other vehicles. More important, the virtual environments in Bad Company 2 are much larger and more diverse than those in Modern Warfare 2. Multiplayer battles in Modern Warfare 2 feel like chaotic arenas with people running all over the place looking out for themselves. In Bad Company 2, teamwork and voice communication are essential; the combat environments are more interesting and feel more akin to what I imagine a modern war zone to be.

Yet the biggest leap in Bad Company 2 is in its single-player campaign. It is only six or eight hours long — comparable in length to the main story in Modern Warfare 2 — and while it is not propelled by scripted set pieces as cinematic as those in the competition, Bad Company 2’s narrative glistens. The characters in Bad Company 2 — the redneck, the hippie pilot, the geek, the weathered sergeant — are profane, quirky and usually hilarious. By contrast, the characters in Modern Warfare 2 are somber, even dour. War is obviously serious business, but the characters in Bad Company 2 seem to be having a lot more fun.

And third, DICE has now fine-tuned the persistent role-playing components of the online game, by giving players a panoply of ways to advance their characters and garner recognition from other users around the world.

One final technical note for consumers: Bad Company 2 is a game that needs to be played on a powerful PC, rather than a console, in order to be fully appreciated. I played mostly on a big rig from AMD, the chip maker, that was able to produce some of the most beautiful graphics I have seen in a shooter. Perhaps more important, the AMD machine came with an ATI Radeon HD 5870 video card that is able to support three monitors at once.

The experience of playing on three monitors, with the peripheral vision it allows, has simply been a revelation. I will continue enthusiastically to use Intel and Nvidia-equipped computers as well, but it may be impossible for me ever to return to a single-monitor setup.

As for the battle of the first-person shooters, let it rage. It is players who are reaping the benefits of this arms race between Activision and Electronic Arts. For now Bad Company 2 is on top.

GAME REVIEW: Final Fantasy XIII !!!

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:02:00 +0000

Final Fantasy is one of the greatest video game series of all time, which is an undisputed fact backed by sales numbers and numerous top ten lists. Due to its massive reputation, Square Enix has had to make games that not only push the limits of video game technology, but also innovate new ways to keep their brand fresh. They’ve done this through original stories, a new cast of characters every time, new worlds, and entire new systems of playing the game.

To sum it up, I’ve been waiting for this game to come out for a long time and I had really high expectations. The trailers looked amazing and judging from the rest of the series I felt secure, but I was still a little afraid that it might be another FFXII (So different, that they had to make it easy.) After several years of waiting, I finally had the disk in my hands. I put the game in my PS3, and I began what I was hoping was going to be a great experience.

The game starts by dropping you in the middle of a new world, Cocoon. Because of how much was going on at the beginning I felt a little overwhelmed, but after a few hours of playing I felt somewhat comfortable with the environment. Looking back, I think I liked how fast the game got started. You begin learning the battle system inside a few minuets, and it’s a good thing too, because the first few hours of battles are really just glorified tutorials. (It was a little repetitive, therefore, I don’t know how the beginning will stand up to replays.)

I thought it was interesting that for the first twenty hours of gameplay, you are essentially on a track. There are no city’s to visit, or side quests to do, you just kind of go from dungeon to dungeon in a very mathematical fashion. What was surprising about this, was that it was actually really fun. Its simplicity helped me to get into the game before turning me loose, and I think they made it simple enough for themselves to really focus on the storytelling. I really enjoy aspects like this in modern games, but it’s something I would have complained about ten years ago. Because this was one of the main aspects of FF XIII that made it not feel so much like Final Fantasy.

I think that my favorite part of the Final Fantasy series is the stories that go into them. Sadly, I don’t think that Final Fantasy XIII has mimicked this success. The actual story, and the complexity of the world are pretty amazing. What I think FF XIII did wrong was the delivery. Since FF X Square Enix has been moving away from subtitled scenes and speech boxes. FF XIII has made the move to 100% voice acting. Most people would think this is a good thing, but I have two problems with this. First, the Final Fantasy stories have always been cheesy, the more voice acting they have, the cheesier it gets. When you get lame dialog in a speech box it doesn’t stick with you. But bad writing with voice acting, can make it feel like a horrible movie. Therefore my long winded complaint is, sometimes the bad dialog made me laugh out loud and took me out of the story.

The second reason is much shorter, it’s simply that speech boxes are great. In the past I’ve been able to say, “I was playing Final Fantasy, it’s an upper echelon video game, in many ways it’s more like reading a book.” But, now I can’t say that any longer… oh well.

Graphics/Audio:

The graphics were tremendous. The models, the landscapes, and the environments are easily the best I’ve ever seen. If I had to complain about something it would be the crappy costume design on some of the humanoid bosses. (Not really an issue with the graphics, but I think it’s a valid complaint.)

When it comes to sounds, I usually don’t have too much of an opinion, but I would definitely say this game had a really strong sound track. Some parts reminded me of Ghost in the Shell, and Macross Plus. Which I think was a good fit for this game. (a futuristic element.) As far as video games are concerned, the voice acting was really well done– especially when you factor in how much of it there was.

Controls/Gameplay:

The new paradigm battle system is definitely different from any other Final Fantasy game. It resembles the gambit system from FF XII in that the computer is doing most of the work, but it is far more intuitive than its predecessor. What I liked about this system is that it requires both skill and strategy. The battles have a lot of variation, and since you really can’t back track in the game, they are pretty consistently challenging.

Although, overall the battle system was really good, it had its flaws. I felt like the most annoying aspect was that you couldn’t change the party leader during combat, and if your party leader ever got killed, it would automatically game over. I can’t tell you how many battles I got in where all the enemies would gang rape my party leader, so I would have to restart, sometimes several times in a row.

Which brings me to my biggest complaint about the entire game– the summon system. The summons in Final Fantasy XIII were literally the worst in the entire series. Not only did they change what the summons looked like, but they actually turned them all into transformers. For example, Shiva is now the Shiva sisters, and they transform into a motorcycle. Ifrit turns into a race car, and Alexander (I wouldn’t lie about this) turns into a castle. I actually refused to use the summons, so I can’t go into great detail about how they work, but save to say– I didn’t like them.

Wrap up:

What I liked about this game, was that it was well made and fun to play through. The battle system was unique and challenging, and the story was good enough that I wouldn’t mind running through it again.

My main complaint is actually the stupid Summons, but if I look passed that, I really don’t have much to say. It wasn’t the best Final Fantasy game to date, but I’m not disavowing it from the series either.

Escape Velocity

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:52:00 +0000

When I was a kid, we didn’t have videogames in our house. No NES, no Sega, no Game Boy. It wasn’t until late in the SNES cycle that I weeded enough yards to pick up an SNES, and the world finally opened up in front of me. I rented Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III, racked up massive late charges, and the rest is history.

But what we did have was a Apple Performa 6116CD – perhaps the worst gaming machine on the planet, excluding the Apple Pippin. The 60mhz PowerPC 601 and 8 MB of RAM could barely power a QuickTime movie, let alone Marathon. But there were people out there who knew exactly what this biege, Gil Amelio-era monstrosity was capable of.

If you had a Mac in the ’90s, you know what I’m headed for. While the PC side had id and Epic to keep them company, those of us who cruised around on Performas and LCIIIs know the real masterminds of ’90s shareware: Mac publisher extraordinaire Ambrosia Software. Ambrosia’s still around today, and making absolutely necessary utilities (and a game, here and there) for Mac OS X and the iPhone. They’re certainly one of the longest-running and most successful shareware publishers, even in this era of swapped serial numbers and open source.

But in the ’90s, they were first and foremost a game publisher. Apieron, Maelstrom, Avara, Barrack, Swoop - just a few of the names that will bring a smile to the face of anyone who played Mac games back in the day. Ambrosia staked their claim on arcade-y games, based on familiar game mechanics with unique and charming twists, and an undeniable and charming sense of humor. Their house style was immaculate, and nothing came out until it was immaculately polished – think of their supposed Quake-killer, Manse, a survival horror FPS that lived screenshot to screenshot for years until it was finally canned, looking better than the vast majority of shovelware on the PC side.

Escape Velocity, though, was a masterpiece, a piece of intelligent and complicated gameplay with a depth completely unheard of in the shareware world.

How Escape Velocity and its sequels shaped my appreciation of gaming, and what I think modern games have to learn from it, after the jump.

The Witcher

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:47:00 +0000

Game Details

Description

The RPG of the Year is back - in a Premium Edition packed with Powerful Extras!

Assume the role of The Witcher, Geralt, a legendary monster slayer caught in a web of intrigue as he battles forces vying for control of the world! Make difficult decisions and live with the consequences in a game that will immerse you in an extraordinary tale like no other!

Representing the pinnacle of storytelling in role-playing games, The Witcher shatters the line between good and evil in a world where moral ambiguity reigns. The Witcher emphasizes story and character development in a vibrant world while incorporating tactically-deep real-time combat like no game before it.

Winner of over 90 Critical Awards including:

IGN.com PC RPG of the Year
PC Gamer PC RPG of the Year
Gamespy PC RPG of the Year
Gamespot RPG of the Year (Reader's Choice)

Features

Improved, Enhanced and Expanded Edition of the "Best RPG of 2007"
Bonus DVD (D'jinii Adventure Editor and Two New Adventures)
The D’jinni Adventure Editor allows players to create or modify their own adventures in the world of The Witcher.
"The Price of Neutrality": the adventure tells the story of Geralt coming back to Kaer Morhen and finding a mysterious camp near the stronghold (featuring 3 new quests)
“Side Effects”: the first ever release of this new adventure which focuses on Geralt's close friend, Dandelion, and his troubles in Vizima City (featuring 5 new quests)
"Making of" DVD with never-before-seen bonus material (180 mins)
Game Soundtrack CD (73 mins)
Official Game Guide (112 pages)
Improvements and Enhancements: reduced load times, increased game stability, improved facial expressions and weather settings, easier-to-use inventory, more than 200 new animations for dialogue scenes, greater NPC variety and much more

Downloads

The Witcher Directors Cut Patch
Type: Patch
File Size: 294 MB
Region: North America
Description: Upgrade The Witcher to version 1.5 and the Director's Cut version by installing this patch. To upgrade to version 1.5 without Director's Cut content install The Witcher Patch 1.5 instead. With The Witcher Director's Cut patch, experience The Witcher as the developers intended, with mature content only released outside of North America, until now! 1.5 Patch Notes from thewitcher.com website.
Instructions: Download and install the patch. Requires The Witcher (PC-DVD ROM or Digital Download) with 1.4 patch installed or The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (PC-DVD ROM or Digital Download). Requirements for Windows XP: the latest graphics drivers and Service Pack 2. Requirements for Windows Vista: the latest graphics drivers and a hotfix from Microsoft.

The Witcher Patch 1.5
Type: Patch
Version: 1.5
File Size: 372 MB
Region: North America
Description: Upgrade The Witcher to version 1.5 by installing this patch. This patch does not include the Director's Cut unreleased mature content. To upgrade to 1.5 and the Director's Cut version, use the Directors Cut Patch instead. 1.5 Patch Notes from thewitcher.com website.
Instructions: Upgrade The Witcher to the version 1.5 by installing this patch. This patch does not include the Director's Cut unreleased mature content. To upgrade to 1.5 and the Director's Cut version, use the Directors Cut Patch instead. 1.5 Patch Notes from thewitcher.com website.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Blood Revival Patch
Type: Patch
Version: 1
File Size: 580 KB
Region: North America
Description: The Blood Revival Patch will restore blood visuals to their intended form on The Witcher: Enhanced Edition for both Retail Box and Digital Download versions (North American Version Only). Requirements for Windows XP: the latest graphics drivers and Service Pack 2. Requirements for Windows Vista: the latest graphics drivers and a hotfix from Microsoft. Owners of The Witcher original version should use The Witcher Patch 1.4, this patch does not work with the original version of The Witcher.

System Requirements

Legal

The Witcher © 2008 CD Projekt Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved. The Witcher and The Witcher logo are a trademarks of CD Project sp. z o.o. All rights reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Aurora Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of BioWare Corp. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce and “The Way It’s Meant to be Played” logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved. Based on the works of Andrzej Sapkowski. Manufactured and marketed by Atari, Inc., New York, NY. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. The ESRB rating icons are registered trademarks of the Entertainment Software Association. Software platform logo (™ and ©) IEMA 2006. Windows and the Windows Vista Start button are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and ‘Games for Windows’ and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Max Payne 3

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:21:00 +0000

Max Payne 3 is an upcoming third-person shooter video game developed by Rockstar Vancouver and published by Rockstar Games for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the first game in the series not to be developed by Finnish game developer Remedy Entertainment and not being written by series creator Sam Lake.

The game was originally scheduled for release in late 2009.However, it was pushed back to 2010 alongside several other Take Two Interactive franchises in order to "benefit from having more development time." The game is now expected to be released sometime in Q4 of fiscal 2010.

Plot

According to Rockstar's Sam Houser, they are starting a new chapter of Max's life with the game. "This is Max as we've never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever." Since the last game, the press release states Max has left New York behind and has "drifted from bad to worse." The press release then goes on to say Max has been double-crossed in this new city and he is searching for the truth and a way out.

The game will be set in São Paulo, Brazil, where Payne is working in the private security sector for a wealthy local family, set 12 years after the events of the second game.

Developer(s)	Rockstar Vancouver
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Series	Max Payne
Engine	RAGE Euphoria
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	Windows/Play Station 3/Xbox360 ^NA Q3 2010 ^EU BA 2010 ^AUS TBA 2010
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Input methods	Keyboard and mouse, gamepad

Electronic Arts The Sims 3 (PC/Mac)

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:38:00 +0000

# Price Range : $23.99 - $49.99 (4 sellers)

Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: The Sims Studio
Release Date: June 2, 2009
Genre: Simulation | Download Size: 5.6GB

The Sims 3
The Sims return yet again in this third full evolution of the long-running and always-expanding sim series.

The Sims 3 allows you to immerse your unique Sims in an open living neighborhood right outside their door, interacting with other Sims using the new, deeper personality system. The game also allows you to customize anything, anywhere. From floors to flowers, fashions to sofas, wallpaper to window shades and more, The Sims 3 gives you all the flexibility and options you need to be the architect of your dream house or explore your interior design skills to outfit your ultimate home. Your Sims can make home an ultra-deluxe mansion, a cool bachelor pad, family's dream home or charming cottage. The choice is yours.

ESRB Rating: T for Violence, Crude Humor, Sexual Themes
Genre: Simulation
Also Available On: Macintosh, Wireless, iPhone

General Features

* Create any Sims you can imagine and give them personalities! Design your ultimate Sim by choosing up to five traits and numerous body characteristics in the Create-a-Sim feature. Customize your Sims body type, facial features, hair styles, and more. Create an evil, handsome, ripped kleptomaniac that wreaks havoc on those around.
* Control your Sims' destinies. From a rock star or world leader to an expert thief, you choose whether or not to pursue the Lifetime Wish of your Sim. Choose whether to fulfill their destiny, giving them a lifetime of happiness and rewards -- or not and be devious!
* Customize everything! You are the designer! From clothing to houses, customize patterns, colors, or create any house you can imagine. Customize any aspect of your Sims' style ... even down to the style and color of their shoes!
* Be the Director of your Sims' movies! Never before have you been able to make your own movie with a cast, a set, soundtrack, a story and editing without leaving the game. Now you can with the movie making mash up tool set. Make a movie and share it with the world!
* Share like never before! Join The Sims 3 online community where you can show off your creations from Sims and houses to objects, movies, and more.

THE SIMS 3 System Requirements:

FOR WINDOWS XP
* Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 1 GB RAM
* At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
* 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

FOR WINDOWS VISTA
* Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
* 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 1.5 GB RAM
* At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
* 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:
* Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA X3000 or above.
* 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent
* 0.5 GB additional RAM

SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS
NVIDIA GeForce series
FX 5900, FX 5950
6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
9600, 9800, GTX 260, GTX 280

ATI Radeon™ series
9500, 9600, 9800
X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
2400, 2600, 2900
3450, 3650, 3850, 3870,
4850, 4870
Intel® Extreme Graphics
GMA X3×00 series

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Developer(s) EA Digital Illusions CE
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Series Battlefield
Engine Frostbite 1.x,1.5[1] [2]
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s) NA March 2, 2010 [3]

RU March 3, 2010 [4]
EU March 4, 2010 [3]
Genre(s) First-person shooter, action
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: M
OFLC: MA15+[5]
PEGI: 16
Media Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Digital distribution

Gameplay

Gameplay in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 resembles that of the original and is set in various environments from around the world, including the mountainous regions along the borders of Russia. Like its predecessor, Bad Company 2 features destructible environments. The system is dubbed "Destruction 2.0," and the level of destruction is extended — players can now completely collapse a building as opposed to only blowing out walls. Along with Battlefield Vietnam, Bad Company 2 is one of only two games in the Battlefield series to have blood[9] without third-party modification. There are new vehicles in Bad Company 2, such as the UH-60 Black Hawk, a quad bike, a two-man patrol boat, a personal watercraft, an AA-gun mounted on a light tank, and a UAV helicopter controlled via computer.

Single-player

The single player campaign has 13 missions, and features the same characters from the first game.The game's prologue, as revealed through an ESRB rating explanation, takes place on an "unnamed Japanese island in the Pacific" during World War II. The prologue introduces the player to a secret weapon codenamed "Aurora" with incredible power, which drives the campaign, and has Bad Company move along the west coast of North and South America, confronting both the Russian army and an unnamed South American militia. The campaign will feature jungles in South America to snow-capped mountains in Alaska.

The first Bad Company game ended with the main characters driving off with a truck full of gold.The Characters are,Pvt.Preston Marlowe the "newbie" of the squad(your player),Pvt.Sweetwater,the squad Machine gunner,Pvt.Haggard,the squad explosives expert,and Sarge, the squad leader. However, they lose their gold and end up back under Army Command. The player controls Preston Marlowe who is part of a rogue B-Company squad, a group of misfits and Army rejects. The campaign is more linear than the first, which often consisted of vast areas with only a start point and an endpoint, and a variety of ways to get between the two. The more linear style allows the player to experience more scripted and exciting missions, but still gives the player a choice in how to approach situations.

In the beginning of the game, you are a soldier in a four-man commando squad with the mission of recovering a defecting Japanese scientist in World War II. However, after traveling on inflateable speed boats, your teammates in another boat are spotted and killed by a Japanese machine gun. Your squad is spotted, and only escapes by diving underwater. When you surface, you head inland, and after traveling through trenches, reach a rendezvous point to meet the defector. He warns the squad that death is imminent, and there is no way to escape, which the squad brushes off.

After hiding from Japanese armor and being saved by air support, you steal a truck and drive all the way to a submarine dock. After a firefight, you steal the submarine and seem to be escaping, but a white flash goes off as a weapon is detonated, and the scene ends with the character seemingly drowning, his dog tags sinking below him.

The next mission comes to present day, which, after showing Russian victories in Mexico, South America, Alaska, Europe, and Asia, changes back to Bad Company, deployed in a Russian base's vicinity in a snow location.

The 2nd mission is when the 4 boys from B company now enter the game,and must take out a target and then escape in a truck dodging enemy helicopters,tanks,and infantry.At the end of the mission, the boys take down a helicopter and find a unusual thing in the crash site of the helicopter.

They take the item to US command and are Reassigned to a new part of the army for a special mission in a jungle.The special(3rd)mission is in a jungle where the boys must find someone for the US government.

Multiplayer

The "Gold Rush" mode in the original Bad Company is referred to simply as "Rush" in Bad Company 2. The format is similar in that an attacking team must detonate explosives on a defending team's crates or destroy them with conventional weapons. The attacking team succeeds by eliminating all the crates on the map, and the defending team succeeds if the attackers are not able to eliminate the crates in the active area before their tickets are depleted. Making use of the Destruction 2.0 system, it is also possible to eliminate some of the crates by collapsing the building they are in on top of them. A smaller scale mode called "Squad Rush" has only two opposing teams of four players battle against each other with one existing crate stash.

Multiplayer allows players to choose from a set of weapon kits before each spawn, the number of which has been further reduced from Bad Company's five down to four: Assault, Engineer, Recon, and Medic (with the Specialist kit being the one removed). In addition to the hand grenades and sidearms standard for all classes, each class also has an initial primary weapon and a pair of gadgets unique to that class. A customizable weapon selection menu is also new to the Bad Company series (similar to unlocks in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142). Gaining experience points allows a player to unlock and use different weapons and gadgets, some only usable by a given class and some available to any class that player uses. There are also unlockable items that can modify the game's firearms, such as ACOGs, reflex sights, and under-barrel launchers, which can fire 40mm grenades, smoke grenades, or buckshot.

The experience points used to unlock the above items are awarded for performing actions conducive to the goals of the player's team, such as eliminating enemy players, healing teammates, or capturing or defending points of interest. Bonuses to the base number of points can be awarded under certain circumstances (such as achieving a headshot in the process of eliminating an enemy player). A dog tag system as seen in Battlefield 2142 and Battlefield: Bad Company returns, awarding players trophies of sorts in the form of opponents' dog tags when they defeat the opponent with a melee attack.

On October 19, 2009, game developer DICE posted a Twitter announcement stating the game will have dedicated server support. This was in response to Infinity Ward's announcement on October 17 that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would not support dedicated servers.[14] Players will also be able to use party chat for each game mode.

System Requirements

Minimum Recommended :Microsoft Windows[16]
Operating System :Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
CPU : Intel Core 2, Duo @2 GHZ Quadcore
Memory : 2 GB RAM
Hard Drive Space : 10GB for disc version or 15GB for digital version
Graphics Hardware : GeForce 7800 GT / ATI X1900 with 256 MB VRAM - DirectX 9 DirectX : GeForce GTX 260/ ATI Radeon 4870 with 512 MB VRAM - DirectX 10
Sound Hardware : DirectX 9.0c compliant Sound card
Network : 1 Mbit/s internet connection for online play

Dragon Age: Origins

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:30:00 +0000

Incredible storytelling, great characters, and exciting battles are just a few of the things that make this fantasy role-playing game so extraordinary.

Game play

The game incorporates "origins" for each race and some classes. For example, a Dwarf Noble begins the game as part of the royal family in one of the dwarven cities, whereas the Dwarf Commoner origin story begins on the streets of the city. Origin stories determine the background of the player's character prior to the main events of the game's story, forming an introduction to the world while also comprising hours of play. Characters that the player meets during the origin story may reappear throughout the game, some of whom may be adversaries.

There is no tracking of moral alignment as in previous BioWare games, but the moral choices of the player will still affect the story throughout the game. The player will save the world regardless of choosing to be good or evil, but the decisions that the player makes in the process will change the game world accordingly – deciding who will become king, for example, and affecting nations and races and their places in the world. These decisions will also influence the companion NPCs, possibly causing an NPC to leave the party or even attack the player if they disagree strongly with his or her actions.

As with the Baldur's Gate series, players are able to issue orders to NPCs in real time, but pause the game to queue up actions such as spells and special attacks.

There are three base classes to choose from: warrior, mage, and rogue. These classes can be upgraded later into a specialized class, such as the Berserker or Templar for the warrior class, Shapeshifter or Spirit Healer for the mage class, and Assassin or Ranger for the rogue. The game uses a party system similar to that of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, in that it features the main character with up to three active party members, chosen from a large pool of NPCs in the game.

Game view

Players are allowed to change game views throughout the game, by zooming in or out. Zooming out affords players a detailed overhead view, allowing them to spot important features in a scenario that may be positioned up above, such as a dangerous lurking creature. The overhead details are not visible in the zoomed in view.

The camera is in an over-the-shoulder third person view when zoomed in, and an isometric-style view when zoomed out, though the console versions cannot zoom out to the extent of the PC version.

The spells in the game interact with the effects of others, such as a fire spell igniting a grease slick before being put out by a blizzard.

Synopsis

Plot

BioWare has described Dragon Age: Origins as being a "dark heroic fantasy" story told on an epic scale with mature themes.

The player begins the game in one of the six origin stories which serve as an introductory point for the players and present the world from their personal point of view. The origin story chosen (the choices being Human Noble, Human/Elf Mage, Dalish Elf, City Elf, Dwarf Commoner and Dwarf Noble) determines who the character is and how NPCs react to the player. For example, Elves are often viewed as second class citizens.

After completing their character's respective origin story, the player encounters Duncan, leader of an elite group known as the Grey Wardens. Duncan guides the player to their destiny of becoming a Grey Warden, a group who dedicate their lives to the destruction of the Darkspawn, a force of demonic creatures that live underground and have at various points in history swarmed the surface of Thedas in movements known as Blights.

The player and Duncan journey to a fortress called Ostagar in southern Ferelden, to join Cailan, the King of Ferelden, and Loghain, a legendary general and friend to Cailan's father. There they plan to make a stand against the encroaching Darkspawn, who Duncan believes have gathered for the first true Blight in 400 years. Duncan has sensed the influence of an Archdemon, a great being hosted in the body of a powerful dragon, in the Darkspawn's actions, making a Blight possible.

Duncan ordains the player into the Grey Wardens in a dangerous ritual called the Joining. Afterwards, the player, along with another Grey Warden, Alistair, is then given the task of lighting a beacon at the top of the fortress in order to signal Loghain to charge. After fighting through many Darkspawn that have infiltrated the fortress, the player does this, but Loghain, upon seeing the signal, quits the field with all of his men. King Cailan and Duncan die along with most of the army at the hands of the Darkspawn, who take control of the fortress and southern Ferelden. Loghain goes to Ferelden's capital city, Denerim, and proclaims himself regent for Queen Anora, his daughter and Cailan's widow.

The player and his party are nearly killed by the Darkspawn as well, but they are saved by Flemeth, a powerful witch who lives in a secluded hermitage. Flemeth presents the player with the involuntary assistance of her daughter and apprentice, Morrigan. The player, along with Alistair and Morrigan, decide that in order to slay the Archdemon believed responsible for the Darkspawn uprising and put an end to the Blight, a new army must be gathered from a myriad of factions located in the Ferelden area, which the Grey Wardens have treaties with.

After the player successfully encounters and obtains the assistance of the Dalish elves of the Brecilian Forest, the Dwarves of the Kingdom of Orzammar, the Circle of Magi, and most importantly the uncle of King Cailan, Arl Eamon of Redcliffe, a meeting known as the Landsmeet is called between all the nobles of Ferelden at Denerim, during which Ferelden's political unrest is settled and the kingdom is ready to face the Darkspawn at Denerim.

At this point, the player learns that a Grey Warden must personally slay the Archdemon, giving his or her life in the process; the player chooses between self-sacrifice, sacrificing either Alistair or Loghain depending on which is available as a result from the choices made in Landsmeet, impregnating Morrigan with a child that would capture the Archdemon's essence or convincing Alistair or Loghain to impregnate Morrigan with the same result. Regardless of the choice, the player's party reaches Denerim and force a final confrontation with the Archdemon atop the largest tower in the city. The Archdemon is slain, causing all of the other Darkspawn to flee.

Downloadable Content

BioWare announced on October 8, 2009 that two pieces of downloadable content will be available on the game's launch: The Stone Prisoner and Warden's Keep. By November 12, 2009, BioWare announced that sales of downloadable content had generated over one million dollars of sales revenue.

The Stone Prisoner

The Stone Prisoner adds Shale to the game, a stone golem and a party member. Shale is a powerful character and has a backstory, voice acting, and a unique quest. The Stone Prisoner also adds new locations and items. New copies contain a promotional code to receive The Stone Prisoner for free.

Warden's Keep

Warden's Keep adds the fortress of Soldier's Peak to Dragon Age: Origins, granting the player the opportunity to understand why the Grey Wardens were exiled from Ferelden. The player can set up a base of operations with an area to store party members' surplus equipment. The download also adds new talents, spells, trophies/achievements, and items.

Blood Dragon Armor

Blood Dragon Armor adds a set of armor that will be accessible in both Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. New copies contain a code to receive Blood Dragon Armor for free.

Return to Ostagar

Return to Ostagar was announced on November 19, 2009 and was originally scheduled to be released during the 2009 holiday season. It was then delayed to January 5, 2010, at which time it was delayed indefinitely. It was released on the Xbox 360 on January 13, 2010, but withdrawn again due to bugs. It was re-released on January 29, 2010 though only for Xbox 360 and PC. The PS3 release date will be March 11, 2010. It features a return to the first battlefield of Ostagar where the Grey Wardens were nearly wiped out by the darkspawn invasion. It allows the player to unravel King Cailan's and Loghain's agenda, discover the armor of the late King Cailan and the arms of the last Grey Warden Commander, Duncan, and provides another opportunity to recruit Dog. It also includes one achievement and other new items.

Napoleon: Total War

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:08:00 +0000

Publisher: Sega
Developer: Creative Assembly
Genre(s): Real-Time Strategy
Players: 8
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: February 23, 2010

Summary

Napoleon: Total War defines a new standard within the genre with exciting characters and a cinematic narrative, mind-blowing battle sequences and an unrivalled mix of turn-based and real-time strategy. Take command and lead your armies on land and sea over three campaigns: Italy, Egypt and Mastery of Europe. The seamless mix of objective-based missions and sandbox experience makes this the most complete Total War experience to date. Napoleon features fully integrated multiplayer modes and a complete set of online functionalities: Steam achievements, gameplay bonuses, uniform editor and voice communications. Advanced weaponry enables new tactical options and even more exciting real-time battles on an epic scale, while the highly detailed environments and improved battlefield buildings guarantee a realistic recreation of famous historical battles. [Sega]

Synopsis & Features

Whether you play as the legendary General or against, the outcome of war can never be guaranteed. The course of history relies on your ability to lead your troops through the most intense battles as never seen before in a Total War game.

The genre-defining franchise brings Napoleon to life
Napoleon: Total War defines a new standard within the genre with exciting characters and a cinematic narrative, mind-blowing battle sequences and an unrivalled mix of turn-based and real-time strategy.

Three new episodic campaigns
Take command and lead your armies on land and sea over three campaigns: Italy, Egypt and Mastery of Europe. The seamless mix of objective-based missions and sandbox experience makes this the most complete Total War experience to date.

Cutting-edge multiplayer
Napoleon features fully integrated multiplayer modes and a complete set of online functionalities: Steam achievements, gameplay bonuses, uniform editor and voice communications.

All new Napoleonic battles and units
Advanced weaponry enables new tactical options and even more exciting real-time battles on an epic scale, while the highly detailed environments and improved battlefield buildings guarantee a realistic recreation of famous historical battles.

Strategy Guide
To help you in your quest for world domination, the Empire: Total War team has put together a list of tips to give you the upper hand in battle!

Naval Battles

Maintain station! - Grouped ships will try to maintain relative positions and follow the lead ship around. So, if you group your ships in a line they will then move in a line around the map.

Fire! - The stern is the weakest part of the ship, so concentrating fire on this weak spot will deal the greatest damage to an enemy ship. But conversely, this is the weakest point on your own ship and must be protected at all times.

Chain Shot! - Using Chain shot to take out the sails of the first ship in an enemy line will slow down the whole line as they regroup.

Beware the Broadside! - Try to keep your fleet to the stern or the bow of enemy ships, all their fire power rests in their broadsides.

Boarding! - Don’t board a ship until you are absolutely sure that it is no longer a threat. Also, make sure that you have taken care of any other threats from the enemy before beginning the boarding process.

Concentrate Fire! - By holding down the Alt key and clicking on an enemy ship you can order any ships you currently have selected to concentrate all their fire on that one ship.

Divide and Conquer! - When commanding a large naval force it is advisable to split it into three separate groups; one to approach the enemy fleet’s port side, one to approach from starboard and a third to cover any gaps which may appear.

Game Info

Stay upwind! - Always try to keep your ships upwind of the enemy. It will give you the upper-hand and allow you to maneuver into position much quicker than your enemy.

A Whiff of Grapeshot! - After dealing some damage to an enemy ship’s hull with regular shot, draw in close and use grapeshot for maximum damage. The holes created in the hull expose the crew to incoming fire.

Lay alongside! - When firing grape shot, line your ship no more than a ship’s width away from the enemy hull. This will allow the shot to spread effectively and dispatch the maximum amount of enemy troops.

Come about! - When using line astern make a conscious effort to turn ships around periodically, in an attempt to distribute hull damage equally. If one side is allowed to take the bulk of the damage, the ship will go down.

Land Battles

As one! - When you group units they remember the relative position of each other so, when you give them a move order, they will reform in the same positions at your chosen destination This, in combination with the new rotate/move buttons on the HUD, allows you to quickly and easily move groups and even to break off parts of a formation into a new group.

At Ease! - Hitting the enter key deselects all the troops you currently have selected.

Flanking Fire! - Forming a horseshoe around enemy units will give your men maximum coverage and increase enemy casualties. Positioning Light infantry in trees to the left and right of your main force will give them the opportunity to get a couple of rounds off before the enemy even knows they’re there.

Form Line! - Drawing your men out into long thin lines will increase the area of battlefield covered by their field of fire. So, no matter where the enemy comes from you will have men covering it (unless they outflank you!)

Deploy defenses! - When defending an area which has limited routes in and out, it is often best to deploy chevaux de frise, followed by a line of earth works. This will protect your army from cavalry and infantry and create an easily defendable position.

Hold it! Hold it! FIRE! - Canister shot is an excellent shot type to use in close range combat. Taking your cannons off fire at will when this shot type is selected will allow you to hold your men until the last minute and release the canister shot just as the enemy reaches you for maximum effect.

To the last man! - When presented with the choice to end the battle or continue, it is often better to continue and wipe out the entire army to prevent them reappearing on the campaign map. Cavalry are particularly effective in this mopping up role.

Skirmishers! - When confronted by a complex enemy formation use Light Infantry to lure enemy units out. Once this is achieved, your light infantry can skirmish away from the attackers, leaving supporting units to deal with them piecemeal.

To me men! - If your men are losing their resolve and routing from the field, send your General and his Bodyguard unit to boast their moral and bring them back to the cause.

Dig in! - Earthworks are particularly effective against an enemy which is heavy on Line Infantry. Your men will be safer from the barrage of bullets.

Dragoons! Flanking Manoeuvre! - Dragoons provide an excellent opportunity to outflank an enemy. Ride your dragoons around the back of the enemy and once there, dismount and begin firing into his rear.

Take Cover! - Deploying your men behind walls will provide essential cover from enemy bullets.

Form Square! - Square formation is particularly effective against Dragoons and other cavalry units.

Cannon fodder - If you’re willing to lose men for the greater good, send your militia or a similar unit down the centre of a battlefield to draw enemy fire. Then bring your better troops around the sides to deal a devastating blow to the enemy front ranks whilst they’re engaged.

The General has fallen! - Killing an enemy general will decrease the moral of any remaining troops, making them more likely to rout.

Up close and personal - Press the Insert key with a unit selected to get a first-person view of the battlefield!

Campaign Map

Raiding trade routes - Raiding an enemies’ trade route will cripple their economy. If a trade route is shared by an enemy and an ally you will only raid enemy ships and never those of your allies or countries you are not at war with.

Foreign policy - If your Rake succeeds in an act of sabotage, the faction you attack will automatically blame their greatest enemy and the relationship between those two nations will suffer as a result.

Clamor for reform - Enlightenment technologies naturally lead to a more enlightened populace. However, an enlightened people often chafe against the bonds of their lot in life, leading to unrest. In order to restore order in regions affected by such dissatisfaction it may be necessary to increase your military presence, or even destroy educational buildings.

A nation of Trenchermen - Not using a character to his full potential will result in them gaining a negative trait. If you have a 9 star general but leave him to fester in some back water province he will gather negative traits and slowly slide into obscurity. Making sure your best generals and agents are in constant use will see them improve and result in a much more effective character.

Money makes the world go round - So, when offering any diplomatic proposals, sweeten the deal with a little cash incentive.

History repeats itself - Saving your campaign before beginning a battle will allow you to replay the battle, should you be displeased by the outcome. It also gives you the opportunity to try out a variety of tactics on the same battlefield to discover what works best for you.

Quick reference - For those wondering what happened to double right-click zoom-to camera functionality, this has now moved to double mouse-wheel-click.

White gold - Trade is an essential aspect of a successful campaign. By sending trade ships to the various trade theaters around the world you will significantly increase your country’s economy. The best strategy to adopt in relation to trade theaters, is monopolization. It is much better to have a single ship in each of the Trade Posts in a theater, rather than having three ships on a single post.

Thanks,

Mark O’Connell

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat

noreply@blogger.com (sempoi4u) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Game Info

Publisher: BitComposer Games

Developer: GSC Game World

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter

Players: 32

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: February 2, 2010

Summary

The events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat unfold shortly after the end of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Having discovered about the open path to the Zone center, the government decides to hold a large-scale military "Fairway" operation aimed to take the CNPP under control. According to the operation's plan, the first military group is to conduct an air scouting of the territory to map out the detailed layouts of anomalous fields location. Thereafter, making use of the maps, the main military forces are to be dispatched. Despite thorough preparations, the operation fails. Most of the avant-garde helicopters crash. In order to collect information on reasons behind the operation failure, Ukraine's Security Service send their agent into the Zone center. From now on everything depends on the player. [GSC GameWorld]

Overview

The Zone is a huge abandoned territory, with twenty-year-old dilapidated buildings, overgrown with forests and anomalous vegetation. It is a territory with deserted surface and underground research facilities, neglected military bases and testing grounds for new technologies. The radioactive land is covered with sores of burned out soil, poisonous fogs, and deadly gravitational anomalies. It is a world of a terrible anthropogenic disaster, and in the center of this hell sit the remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

The in-game Zone is a reconstruction of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone around it. Moving along the storyline, the player will visit such places as the Swamps, the Red Forest, the Limansk city and, of course, the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Many in-game locations have real prototypes.

We are trying to recreate the true atmosphere of the real industrial disaster of Chernobyl. You will easily recognize all the sights known from photos of the Exclusion Zone.

The photographs and video records made during our multiple trips into the real Chernobyl Zone gave us the essential background to reconstruct the Exclusion Zone in the game. The architecture and all of the textures you will see are as real as possible.