Saturday 28 February 2009

The Don is back

First of all for today's blog post I have to apologise for not writing here in a few days. Had to do job application and also spent the last 2 days unlocking scout achievements in Team Fortress 2 so I can report back to you about what the new weapons are like. More on those later.

The Don is back:

As mentioned in the title the Don is back in the form of The Godfather 2 coming from Electronic Arts (EA). This is due to be released on April 10th 2009 on PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC. They have released a new trailer viewable below today and this basically shows you how the business rackets work. How to take them and buy gaining them what benefits you get from them. Quite interesting video and actually makes you want to consider getting the game unlike the previous videos we have seen from EA.



EA beam down another video:

EA have also released another video today which is from their upcoming expansion Spore: Galactic Adventures for their 2008 title Spore. This video shows us just some of the many missions which will be available from the purchase of the expansion to play and is basically an add on pack to the space age section of the game. Interesting video and it just shows how much the space age could have been improved from the start but this look like it could be a good buy if you felt you did not get the best out of the space age in Spore.



Rock from March:

Last year saw the release of Guitar Heroes 4 on the Wii and all the other major platforms and we also saw the release of Rock Band 2 on the Xbox 360 too. Today Rock Band 2 has been dated for the PS3, PS2 and the Wii.

PS3 and PS2 owners will see the game released on March 27th with the game coming to the Wii on April 24th.

Will it be worth the wait? Well we shall just have to see but from a knowing a 360 owner who has the game it should be.

Boink!

With regards to the new Scout update for Team Fortress 2 please check back to the blog tomorrow and see what it is all about. See the pros and cons of the new update for Team Fortress 2.

AJ

Sunday 22 February 2009

New You Tube Project

For those of you who have visited and viewed my You Tube channel AJB123644 you may have noticed that I have not updated it for a while now. I wish to change this and have a project in mind however I am going to below detail a few ideas in the hope that you readers will be able to give me some feedback on my idea.

The Pitch:

Basically the show will be posted once a week on a day as yet to be decided on You Tube. The show is to be themed round a news based programme where all the weeks news is rounded up into one place with the odd comedy added in for good measure. The show would be mainly based around gaming although would at times if something interesting came up have highlighted topics from general news items.

The show would also feature parts dedicated about upcoming games, viewpoints on these and more.

So any more thoughts you could suggest or maybe just give an opinion on the whole pitch. Would love to hear what you all have to say about the idea and I would like to get it up and running in the summer by doing a couple of one off videos with which to see how people react.

Also just a quick note that there will be no post tomorrow as I am off to a concert tomorrow night therefore will have no access to a computer from home until Tuesday.

AJ

Saturday 21 February 2009

Codies Friday Frenzy!

Yesterday Codemasters had a huge release day for new screenshots and videos for various games coming up in the next few months. Considering we have so far for all the releases had very little in the form of media up until yesterday it seemed like it was a good day to be releasing everything and with the games coming out between now and the end of summer this year things are looking set to be a good summer. I say shut out the sunlight and turn on that PC or console. So let's take a look at some of the games coming out from Codemasters this summer.

For the official Codemasters web pages for the games please click on the game name to go there.

Overlord 2:

Codemasters have released a trailer and a bunch of screenshots for the sequel to Overlord which came out in 2007. This time round it sees you taking control of a new Overlord commanding an army of even more powerful minions. You are taking on the might of the Glorious Empire. A Roman styled faction.

The trailer is available to view here on the CVG website along with the new screenshots. The trailer looks pretty good and it looks like once again you will be causing a lot of mayhem. Overlord 2 is set to be released in June this year.

Jumpgate Evolution:

New trailer out for this space MMO along with more screenshots of the game. This is set to be different to Eve Online in the way that it is a lot more simplistic. You control your ship in real time much like a driving game. It is in effect designed to have the FPS characteristics of a shooting game but set in an MMO universe. This looks set to be ery exciting indeed but as to whether it will be able to compete with Eve Online only time will tell although there should be no real problem there as Eve Online is a highly complex game when compared to other MMO's on the market.

Jumpgate Evolution is set to be released in June this year. You can view the trailer and screenshots here.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising:

Sequel to Operation Flashpoint this is set to go up against Arma 2 this year which in itself be interesting to see how the two games compare and as to which one will come out on top. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a military conflict simulator which Codemasters have enabled to be as sandbox a game as possible. You can choose from many different roles to play in the Modern US Army which is the faction you will be playing for in the game where you are assaulting an island held by the Chinese.

They have made this game incredibly detailed. The trailer shows you the lighting effects, the character models and the day/night cycle and it looks really impressive. This is one game not to miss if you are into Military Combat Simulaters.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is going to be an intense shooter but as to how well it will perform when it compares to Arma 2 we will only have to wait and see.

New trailer has been released along with screenshots and these can be viewed here and is due for release in March this year.

FUEL:

This 5000 square mile open racing game is set to create a unique driving experience like no other. No other game has tried to create such a large environment and on top of all of that they even have real time weather effects which can and will affect the way you race!

I did more on the game in a previous post which can be read here.

They have released a new trailer not long after having released one a few weeks back along with more screenshots. The details again look brilliant and with a draw distance of 40km this should be breathtaking. View the trailer and screenshots here with the game due to be released in May this year.

In all looks like Codemasters have a pretty good line up of games due to be released over the summer which might I add is a brilliant time to release as so few new games are coming out at this time of year. Codemasters have thus far delivered well with games such as Racedriver Grid and hopefully these releases will rocket Codemasters into a league of its own and with the quality a gamer wants.

AJ

Thursday 19 February 2009

Boink! It's almost here!

On Tuesday Valve announced the next update for the Scout will be released next Tuesday (24th February 2009) via their Team Fortress 2 blog. As is the case with previous TF2 updates they are releasing a sneak preview of what is to come day by day until the launch.

So far they have told us about the Sandman which is a new kind of bat. This bat is pretty special and adds the ability to smack baseballs at the enemy team which in turn he gets stunned however the drawback is that you cannot double jump whilst this is being used.

Wednesday (yesterday) they announced the release of another two community maps. One being a new Arena map called Watchtower which basically is high up combat and with a lot of sniping potential, something which is lacking in the other Arena maps. The second community made map is to be a Control Point map and is based around sharop corners and short lines of sight. Both of these maps should be interesting to play.

Today Valve have announced the 'Bonk' Energy Drink and a list of the names of the 35 new achievements for the Scout. The Energy Drink will give you a few second rush of energy. Presumably by energy they mean speed. Again another interesting weapon.

So far it looks like the new Scout update will change the way the Scout is to be played entirely. By introducing a long range weapon it could make the matches interesting and by stunning people even more so. The rest of the updates we can expect to see will most likely involve a new game mode which Valve have promised us.

Tonight I have a little story for you all. I was on my way to my guitar lesson tonight when all of a sudden the motorbike broke down a mile from home. Deciding it was not worth the hassle of calling out recovery I decided to push it home. I must say it was rather amusing but ultimately it is a good work out. If you wish to get fit I would recommend pushing a 120kg motorbike plus fuel!

AJ

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Modern Warfare 2 needs you!

Recently Infinity Ward, the developers of the highly successful Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched their Twitter page. So today they have asked people the following:

"Name one thing you'd like to see in Modern Warfare 2?"

Seems like they really want to get Modern Warfare the best they can this year and with the previous statement saying that this is "to be a very exciting year for the franchise as we expect this year's launch is likely going to be the most anticipated title of all of 2009". Perhaps they will be right after all. Most game developers which get involved with the community such as the Team Fortress 2 team for their updates. These are great and always play well with the community because they listen to some extent as to what their fans want. Hopefully Modern Warfare 2 will be more successful than Modern Warfare 1 and that was pretty damn good anyway!

My question though is whether they will be updating the graphics and engine for the game and introduce new features like the last time. It will be interesting to see whether they do or not as the direction they took with that for Modern Warfare 1 was what made it so popular with the new innovative features sending fans crazy.

You can view more details on this here.

In other news it seems that Microsoft are in talks with the Israel company 3DV Systems. They are a 3D video imaging and motion-sensing technology company. Microsoft are reportedly going to buy the company for 35 million US Dollars. Hefty sum of money if you ask me!

This all seems to have stemmed from the Wii's brilliant use of the Wii controllers and this is something which made the console sell so well in the past and continue doing so because no other console does anything such as what it does.

It seems that now Microsoft want in on the action too but with a twist. 3DV does not use controllers but rather a motion capture device which then translates your movements in game. How widely this could be applied to the majority of games would be intriguing but anything is possible as the Wii has already shown us with the likes of Call of Duty: World at War on the system and other games.

The big question for Microsoft is as to whether they will be doing this as a add on for their current console system, the Xbox 360 or whether they will incorporate this into a new console.

My guess would be towards the latter as the 360 is now coming up to 4 years old it would make sense for Microsoft to start investing in a new console. Also by the time Microsoft got 3DV working hard and into a serious project the timescales would fit. This big step forward for Microsoft could put them ahead in the game but only time will tell as to how both Sony and Nintendo will react to this move made by Microsoft.

AJ

Tuesday 17 February 2009

Is GTA 4 PC Lost and Damned?

So with the release of GTA 4: The Lost and Damned just passed on the 13th February 2009 I wonder whether the content will stay exclusive or whether it will eventually pass onto the PS3 and PC. Recently Microsoft seem to be buying up these exclusive DLCs which is basically a huge tactical marketing tool. They say you get all this extra content by having a 360 and then get the extra money through the sale of the consoles. However it seems a little harsh to leave the PS3 and PC out from the DLC. After all we bought the game just as everyone else did (well apart from the pirates that is). So is it really fair to presume that by Microsoft limiting the DLC to only one console they are in effect tunneling people to their one console. The PS3 is still in it's early stages rather much comparable to a baby at the minute. It is just starting to learn how to walk and pick up its pace in the gaming industry.

We PC Gamers do seem to get the DLC occasionally that the consoles get however not all the time. Again what is it that makes us as a platform different to the PS3 or the 360? After all we all pay for the game in the first place and we all would pay for the DLC if they were to provide it.

This all actually leads onto whether the Lost and Damned would be released on the PC and PS3. I read that GTA 4 is getting sold and traded in by people due to having finished it and the lack of things to do round Liberty City once it is complete. Sure you could go on the multiplayer but even that has only a certain amount of time before that too gets a little tedious. So reading from people's posts on the Computer and Video Games (CVG) website it seems that people would be willing to go back to Liberty City if they had the Lost and Damned DLC. After all it adds a fair few hours to the game and changes a few aspects such as the style and story, guns etc. Surely this move would create even more revenue for Rockstar and also increase the second hand market with people buying back their copies of GTA 4 having sold them on due to finishing them.

In all a good move by Microsoft for snapping up the exclusive content but as I said it is not overly fair on the thousands of other gamers and it could seem like Microsoft and Rockstar are punishing for not owning a Xbox 360. I would contact Rockstar to see if they could comment as to whether the Lost and Damned will be coming to the PS3 and PC in the future but I do not have any direct contact details for them. Thus meaning I would just get through to customer support.

You can read the review produced by CVG for the Lost and Damned out now on the Xbox 360 here.

The lengthy post: You might ask as to why I did a huge post today. This is largely due to not posting yesterday. Something which I am deeply sorry about. I had a Parish Council meeting to attend and by the time I got back and had dinner there was little time left for me to write to the blog.

Other news:

Last night Criterion Games, developers of the brilliant Burnout Paradise announced that they will be releasing the Legendary Cars DLC for the PS3 on Thursday 19th February 2009. As you might be able to tell only two days time! They also announced the following:

"PC players will need to be a little more patient. We'll announce the release data for PC Legendary Cars in the near future."

Once company then that will not be ignoring the PC for DLC!

AJ

Saturday 14 February 2009

There will be an uprising coming this Spring!

EA are going to be releasing the expansion C&C Red Alert 3: Uprising this Spring but what is most intriguing is that they will be releasing it as a download only. So far they have not commented as to where it will be hosted etc but we can probably guess at it only being made available on the EA Download Manager which is a great shame. We all know that the EA Download Manager lets you download the game for free at any point within 6 months of purchase. You can opt to have this extended if you desire but after that time expires you cannot download the game anymore without purchasing it again. A great shame as the EA Download Manager could be bigger if they removed this feature especially as they do have some good deals on there.

I have added a new blog to the "Blog's To Visit!" list down the sidebar to the right of this post. The blog is run by M_the_C and is also trying to do a post a day blog also. His posts are brilliant and he is currently doing a 7 day stint in Children of the Nile. A great blog and I highly recommend you to take a look at it here or you can click on the blog via the list in the side bar to the right.

I was also planning on doing a written version of a new project I am planning for You Tube which will hopefully be seeing the light of day in the form of a few pilot episodes later in the year. Unfortunately a huge list of stuff to do crept up so I shall work on it for next Friday. It is a work in progress so it may change over time.

AJ

Thursday 12 February 2009

That Blizzard must be delaying some games...

Blizzard have just announced today that their Beta for Starcraft 2 is still months away and with Blizzard confirming that only one frontline Blizzard game being released in 2009 it looks like we may not see either Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2 for a little while yet. The games were supposed to be released this Spring but now they do not have release dates. It will be a matter of time before they announce which one will be released this year but my guess is it could be Diablo 3 due to Starcraft 2 no doubt undertaking a rigorous beta to cater to their fans.

This could be seen as a good thing what with some games companies releasing games half finished so it is good that Blizzard are stepping out from the rest in order to release good quality games. EA also seems to be following the same trend recently by postponing some of their titles such as The Sims 3 for a later release.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has also been confirmed by Activision and is set to be released in the holiday quarter with Activision claiming 2009 "to be a very exciting year for the franchise as we expect this year's launch is likely going to be the most anticipated title of all of 2009". Hopefully this means that Infinity Ward are hard at work creating yet another excellant game.

Have played Burnout Paradise and I must say it is brilliant. Criterion have done a splendid job with the way the game presents itself and also the conversion to PC. My hat goes off to them and EA for a brilliant job there. Should also be seeing yet more content being released for the game in the coming months.

Other than that it started snowing here in Lincolnshire this afternoon which is great. It has since stopped the last time I checked. No more havoc for us then!

AJ

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Free 4 Dead...

Valve have just confirmed that their 2008 Zombie Horror Survival, Left 4 Dead, will recieve the content which is promised this Spring for free on both the PC and Xbox 360. Wonder how they managed to get that for free unless they had to pay Microsoft some money of course!

"The recently announced Left 4 Dead Downloadable Content (L4D DLC) will be delivered to Xbox 360 and PC gamers free of charge.Due for release this spring, the DLC for 2008's best-selling new game property on the PC and Xbox 360, is dubbed the L4D Survival Pack and introduces a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode (Death Toll, Dead Air). A Critic's Choice Edition of the game will be heading to retail stores this spring, and will include access to all the content introduced in the L4D: Survival Pack."

Sega have also just today confirmed a new Aliens Versus Predator game set to be released in 2010 and is currently in development by Rebellion who were responsible for the 1999 AVP game. More on that here.

Not really any other news which is of great interest today however yesterday was the start of my promised blog a day. Will do some more meaningful posts about other stuff later in the week.

I also today have received my copy of Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box so shall be loading that up tonight and hopefully having some good fun! Will report back on that ASAP.

AJ

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Fuel plus the gaming BAFTA's

Today Codemasters have released the latest video featuring in game footage of their upcoming racing game, FUEL which will see gamers racing over stupid amounts of varying terrain in a fictional present and racing in a multitude of vehicles from 4 wheels to 2.

This looks set to be the racing game of 2009 if they can deliver, it looks amazing and with "100,000 miles of roads, tracks and trails and hundreds of race events FUEL’s epic world demands to be explored" this could be one racing game. More on that nearer to its release date which has been confirmed to be this May. View the amazing video below!



You can go to the official web page for Fuel here.

In other exciting news we have the gaming BAFTA's for this year with the shortlists available to view here. You can also vote for your favourite game of the year here and be in with a chance of winning some prizes!

Odd though that included in those lists is the likes of Call of Duty 4 when that was released back in 2007. I know it was good but did it really need to top 2008 too? Maybe they are counting the recent release of the game of the year edition as a 2008 release.

AJ