Battlefield 3
The Reviews Are In!
Sizzling Launch Trailer
Modern Warfare 3
Warning: May Be Hot To The Touch!
Battlefield 3 Launch Trailer
DOTA 2 Trailer
Hot Out Of BlizzCon 2011
2 Comments
1 Comment
Videogame designers and journalists talk about the art inherent in video games; alongside the regular spiel about moral choices in games like Bioshock, interesting and weird indie games feature heavily, including Hot Throttle - a game in which you race men who truly believe they are cars.
2 Comments
Various enthusiast setups were sprinkled throughout the show - there were racing setups of both the static and the moving-seat variety, 3D-gaming and cinema situations available for perusal by those interested in that kind of thing and an array of triple & sextuple monitor setups. I must admit that my doubts about the notion of a monitor-wall were confirmed - being confronted and simultaneously flanked by monitors, complete with that obnoxious bezel interruption, did little to delight me. Maybe it was just the low framerate of RAGE, or the too-close-for-comfort nature of the multi-monitor set-ups that I tried, but it was incredibly disorienting to me. I was never the kid who threw up on every bus journey but I feel like extended contact with Eyefinity would cause me to violently upchuck at frequent intervals. For some games, namely ones involving significant menu systems that stay static in your peripheral, I can understand what would be added (I have a dual-monitor set-up for day-to-day computerings), but for extending a field of view in a game, I'd much prefer getting a larger central monitor-slab. Do any of you scoundrels partake in the multiple-monitor madness? What am I missing?
One of the things that struck me most about the event was the plethora of mechanical keyboards. The machines on which the Battlefield 3 single-player was being showcased were hooked up to them, while entire stands devoted to mechanical keyboards had set up shop hither and thither. The keyboard manufacturer Cherry had a "guess the colour of the switches" competition - from typing on the keyboard, listening to the pitch and noting the tactile feedback, you were to guess which of the three colour-coded variations were housed within. You didn't win anything if you guessed correctly, of course; just the satisfaction of a smiling nod from a pleasant old keyboard merchant.
LITS was a small show, compared to the likes of the Eurogamer and MCM Expos, but it was full of charm and variety and there were some very legitimate deals to be had on components and hardware. It was nice to see a stand for "Gamer Camp" next to one extolling the virtues of a robotic exoskeleton, watching hydrocarbon waterfalls in liquid-cooled computers and being amidst the crowd curiously gathering to watch the liquid nitrogen aided overclocking of a Bulldozer chip. Such was the momentousness of the occasion, I whipped out my pixel-poor point-and-shoot and captured the following video. Observe! (At one point, the fellow with the microphone says that they've broken the world record. I'm not sure if this is true of liquid nitrogen cooling specifically, but - according to gigabytedaily - it was the actually the ninth highest clock in the world. I'm frankly appalled.)
1 Comment
0 Comments
0 Comments
2 Comments
0 Comments
4 Comments
19 Comments
Utilizing the power of Frostbite 2, the Back to Karkand Expansion Pack, remasters four of the greatest Battlefield maps in the franchise; Strike at Karkand, Wake Island, Gulf of Oman and Sharqi Peninsula with enhanced levels of destruction. In addition, this expansion pack includes five new dog tags, five new achievements/trophies, three new vehicles (DPV, BTR-90, F-35B STOVL jet fighter), 10 iconic Battlefield weapons and a new persistence system where players complete assignments to earn their rewards.
2 Comments
0 Comments
0 Comments
Long story short, we guarantee you that nothing's going to scare you this year. There will be no ENORMOUS HAUNTED EYEBALL to terrorize you around an island filled with tons of SECRET LOOT, and a GIANT SKULL! There will be approximately zero percent chance of you getting your trembling hands on a spooky costume FOR EVERY CLASS! And we certainly wouldn't DRAMATIZE THE BACKSTORY of this hypothetical scary update with a FEAR-CHOKED TERROR-COMIC!
I really enjoyed the comic, which explains just what happened to the Demoman’s eye.
The event will last through November 6th.
0 Comments
6 Comments
49 Comments
Next Friday Hi-Rez Studios is planning to kick off the Tribes: Ascend beta, which is their upcoming free-to-play revival of the beloved Tribes franchise. Hi-Rez promises me that the special formula that made the franchise great is still around. That means you'll be having fun with jetpacks, vehicles, deployables, skiing, vehicles, and the variety of classes and kits for example.
As we reported earlier, it's possible right now to reserve a spot in the upcoming beta by pre-ordering what is essentially a Tribes: Ascend booster / starter kit for $29.99 USD, $24.99 EUR, or $19.99 GBP. We've got two alternative ways for you to get in without having to pre-order though. If you'd like to take advantage, read on.
Fifteen keys are up for grabs just by leaving a comment under this post which contains a short story of a memorable "Tribes moment" from your gaming past. Whether it was that time you shock lanced a full enemy transport into the ground, or when you scored an across the map mortar kill on the flag carrier, it really doesn't matter. Any story will do, just make sure to include one. At the end of the evening we'll do a draw, and announce winners.
The other way to win is to catch me on Twitter later in the day. I'll be giving away ten keys total, via random Tribes trivia. If you're a trivia master then make sure you follow me. Best of luck whichever method you choose, and thanks to Hi-Rez Studios for hooking our readers up!
Update The giveaway is now over, and the winners are: *drum roll*
CappinCanuck, Chico_Rodriguez, Choma, crazyfreakkid, Floormat, Genesi, Hactar, handman, Medic1663, pagb, ShadyPete, TalonHunter, Xbones, Yrd, and zaka7h.
Congrats guys, please contact me at ohmwrecker[at]ve3d.com with your VE username to claim your prize!
13 Comments
4 Comments
Essentially the story is this. Less than a month ago, and at the very young age of 29, Neumann experienced a stroke while at work playing Left 4 Dead 2 with a colleague. He's been through hell and back since then, and is now in the process of dealing with the after effects. This includes a continued loss of feeling on the left side of his body, and the need to make use of both a cane, and an eyepatch.
He dodged a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, only to learn that he has a hole in his heart which may have contributed to the stroke. He's still keeping his blog going while he continues on his journey of recovery and understanding, and thanks to the wonders of the Twitterverse you're completely free to reach out to him with words of encouragement or support.
14 Comments
The PC version of the game, or at least part of it, has been circulating among pirates in the U.S., who illegally copy and share it without paying Activision Blizzard or its retailers. That’s a big problem, as Activision Blizzard is expected to sell more than 20 million copies of the game in 2011 alone, according to Arcadia Research. That amounts to more than $1.2 billion in sales at retail.For whatever reason Takahashi implies that sales expectations could be harmed, when in reality we all pretty much know that Modern Warfare 3 is a Steamworks title. In other words, it's going to be locked down by encryption until the game unlocks. it doesn't matter who has images of the PC discs, because they're not going to be playing the game anytime soon. Xbox 360 or PS3 leaks on the other hand, that's something for Activision to worry about.Piracy has always been a problem with video games, especially for PC titles. But the pirates go after Call of Duty because it’s the big prize. Every year, a cat-and-mouse game ensues. Activision Blizzard closely monitors manufacturing in the weeks leading up to shipment, since it only takes one stolen disk to set off the viral spread of pirated copies. But it’s hard to stop inside jobs.
Evidently, pirated discs began to spread quickly after an employee at a shipping warehouse (run by a huge shipping company) in Fresno, Calif., stole one disc. It’s not clear how many full copies spread this way, as the disc that was stolen was apparently Disc 2 of a two-disk set for the PC. Security may have been too tight for the thief to steal the other disc.
6 Comments
Valve added three new fire linked heroes to the Dota 2 beta today - Huskar, Batrider, and Jakiro. Huskar is all about sacrificing health for power, Batrider enjoys coating things in oil then setting them alight (when he's not busy flying about in the skies while leaving a trail of fire in his wake, or dragging enemy heroes around the map), and Jakiro the two-headed dragon plays with both fire and ice to create a near perfect harmony of destruction with the two opposing elements.
Valve is also tinkering around with a new end of game player feedback system. Players can now file reports against problem players for abuse, or griefing. On the other side of the coin there's also now an option to commend a player for providing a good experience in the game. No word yet on the big picture of this system.
You can check out the build notes for more, including some details on changes to the "Player Perspective" view in spectator mode.
15 Comments
I actually saw a few great bugs while playing Dead Island last night. One was the ultimate vulgarity. I beat some zombie chick down and she laid on the ground twitching while spurting blood from her poonani. Yeah, that's when I decided to call it quits for the night.
What are your plans for the weekend?
P.S. bacon, peen and poop. Because I <3 you.
