Dead Space 2 Trailer Revealed

Woohoo! As many of you know, Dead Space is one of my favorite 3rd person horror games, and I've been looking forward to Dead Space 2 ever since it was first announced. Today Visceral Games and EA released the first full trailer for Dead Space 2, and let me tell you, it looks pretty cool!

Although this trailer really doesn't show any gameplay, I can't help but get excited for more necromorph stomping. The one thing I'm not to certain about however, is if Isaac will keep his "Joe every-man" personality. The new suit is defiantly making him look more like a military trooper, rather than a space engineer.

Sims 3 Heading Over To Consoles This Fall

Last years best-selling PC franchise is heading over to consoles later this year. The game will becoming to the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Ds, all of which are scheduled for a fall release.
 Skimming through EA's press release tells us that The Sims 3 for consoles will include all-new features make it easier than ever to mess with life as players can unlock the ultimate “Karma Powers” for instant control and unleash them on their Sims. Players can help their Sim “get lucky,” bless them with “instant beauty” or be deviant and curse them with an “epic fail.”

Now this isn't the first Sims game to make it onto consoles, but it defiantly seems like this is going to be one of the most complete "Sim experiences". Keeping with The Sim's casual appeal, the Xbox 360 and PS3 version will come with a "single-use serial code" that will allow gamers to share achievements with friends through Facebook.

New Oddworld Game On Hold While Old Games Make A Comeback

The Oddworld series has been one of the most creative, adorable, and all around fun I've ever experienced. So when news broke a couple years back that there was a new Oddworld game in production I was extremely excited.
Sadly, it seems that I'll have to wait even longer for a new Oddworld game than expected. The creator of the Oddworld series, Lorne Lanning, recently came out and explained what's going on.
"There's a lot of things the shelf right now," Lanning explained. "We had a few on the fire, and they're still on the shelf...there's a lot of shakeup going [in the gaming industry] and in that turmoil, we didn't really want to put the Oddworld brand out there in the middle of it, so we're working on some other things that we'll be announcing shortly."

Although this means a new Oddworld game won't be coming anytime soon, it's still around, and hopefully it will see the light of day "somewhat" soon.
There is some fantastic new however, the "Oddbox", a newly announced collection which includes all the Oddworld games released so far. Is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2010 on Windows through Steam. Having Munch's Oddysee and Stanger's Wrath in one package...I'm already getting excited just thinking about it!

Source: G4

A New Mass Effect 2 Squad Member Is Now Up For Rectruitment

Ready for another space mission? No? Well too bad, because Bioware and EA have just launched their first new party member DLC for Mass Effect 2.
Kasumi - Stolen Memory includes a new squad member, mission, weapon, research upgrade, casual outfit, and new achievements.

I'm not quite ready to go back into Mass Effect 2, although I do see myself jumping back in for another play-through right before Mass Effect 3 comes out. A fully loaded party with a bunch of DLC characters does sound like a good time.

Dead Space 2 Demo Is Coming

When Visceral Games launched Dead Space in 2008 it was one of the biggest sleeper hits of the year. It was sure one of my favorites of 2008 due to the fact that I love scary 3rd-person shooters, but sadly, many people didn't even realize that Dead Space existed in 2008.
With Dead Space 2 however, EA and Visceral Games is going about their marketing a little differently.

“Last time, I just heard a lot of comments like ‘The demo was way too hard,’ or ‘It kind of came out after the fact.’ We’re really putting an emphasis on making sure that we have something there so that new people can check it out,” said Executive Producer Steve Papoutsis. “There’s a lot of people that seem interested and we just want to give them an opportunity to check it out and get into it.”
I'm excited to see that I could start playing  Dead Space 2 demo in the near future, but I'm even more excited that people will actually realize how much fun Dead Space is! Look forward to a bit of Dead Space 2 coverage as it draws closer to release later this year.

Mass Effect 2 Kasumi DLC Gets A Price

Up until the Alternate Appearance Pack, all of the Mass Effect 2 DLC, had been free for Cerberus members. Now the first DLC pack to add a new member to Shepard's crew will also cost you more than a Cerberus "membership fee".

"Cerberus has procured the service of Kasumi Goto, the galaxy's most enigmatic master thief. In return for her help, Kasumi has asked Shepard's help on a dangerous heist to infiltrate the vault of a deadly master criminal named Donovan Hock. Gain Kasumi's loyalty on the planet Bekenstein, where Hock is throwing a party for some of the galaxy's richest and most deranged criminal minds to recover data of great importance to Kasumi... and to the galaxy at large. Includes a new squad member, mission, weapon, research upgrade, casual outfit, and achievement."

The new DLC pack is entitled "Kasumi - Stolen Memory" and it will cost you 560 Microsoft points on the Xbox 360, 560 BioWare points on the PC, and it will come out later in April.

So far I feel that EA/BioWare have been very fair with their DLC strategy, giving enough free DLC for Cerberus members and not over charging for premium DLC, so I'll defiantly be picking this one up.

Mass Effect 2 DLC Coming March 23

Bioware announced earlier today that the "Firewalker" DLC, which will be free for everyone connected to the Cerberus Network, is coming out March 23.

The DLC pack will contain a five-mission pack introduces us to the Hammerhead, a new flying vehicle.
Mass Effect 2 is without a doubt one of the best games I've played in a while, and some free DLC is always welcome. Lets just hope this vehicle doesn't turn out the same as the MAKO from Mass Effect(1).

Skate 3 Now Has An Official Release Date

I'm having a pretty hard time trying to think of an interesting way to communicate these release dates to you all...but I can't, so let's just cut straight to it.

 North America will be getting their "Skate" on May 11 while the rest of the world has to wait for May 14.
I always enjoy a good skating game, be it Tony Hawk, Skate, or just about anything else (although I could have defiantly gone without Skate or Die!).
Look forward to joining a skate crew, making parks, pull of "radical" tricks, and even doing photo-shoots when "Skate 3" hits later this year.

Steam Version Of Battlefield Bad Company 2 Getting A Nice Patch

Along with a couple of bug fixes the newest patch for the Steam version of Battlefield Bad Company 2, the SecuROM will also get removed. EA has some history with the SecuROM, but that history has never gone over well with EA's consumers. Most of you will probably remember the Spore fiasco of only allowing a limited amount of installs before the disc would become completely useless. You can thank SecuROM for that.

Although it seems some light has been shined into EA's heart recently, Dragon Age didn't launch with SecuROM, Mass Effect has had it removed, and now Bad Company 2 is going to get it removed aswell.
Although this is only no the Steam version of the game, due the fact that Steam has its own authentication solutions in place, its still a big plus for anyone who's into PC gaming.
I'm glad to see that Steam is trustworthy enough, even for big publishers like EA, so that we might avoid more of these crazy DRM strategies (looking at you Ubisoft).

Battlefield Bad Company 2's Take On Grenade Spam

You might recall a couple weeks before Modern Warfare 2 launched last year, Infinity Ward put out a video to promote their game. The video featured Philadelphia's MLB pitcher, Cole Hammel, giving a quick talk on grenade spam, and how it ruins games. The video was supposed to be on the humorous side, but it caught some negative attention for the last couple seconds of the video. "Brought to you by Fighting Against Grenade Spam" was the famous line that caused all the commotion. If you don't notice the acronym for that line turns out to be F.A.G.S. which didn't go over too nicely with most of the public. Here's the video in-case you missed it during its release.


But that's old news. The real story comes from EA's new first person shooter, Battlefield Bad Company 2. Bad Company 2 has a tendency to subtlety make fun of Modern Warfare 2 throughout its campaign, but their new promotional video isn't too subtle anymore.

I find the video pretty funny in both parody, and its actual contents. Although this does beg the question. When is directly making fun of your game's competition too much? Do you think this video crossed the line?

Onlive Priced and Dated

A unique service has been in the works for quite some time now, and today it's finally been priced and dated.
Onlive, a service which will allow you to "stream" games (kind of like watching movies online through Netflix) will be launching June 17, and it will start at a $14.95/month rate.
Onlive's COO, Mike McGarvey, gave a quick talk about what we can expect from this new platform.

“Individual titles will be available for purchase or rental on an a la carte basis. Specific game pricing, including rentals,purchases and loyalty programs, will be announced prior to the consumer launch event at E3. We’ll also be announcing additional loyalty and discount programs for consumers in the coming months.”
EA, Ubisoft, Take-Two, THQ and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will all have games available through Onlive when it launches later this year.
The one thing to keep in mind however, is that the $14.95/month charge, only pays for the service. You'd need to pay desperately in order to rent/buy games. I'm not too sure how, if at all, successful this will be. But you can be sure that this isn't the last you'll hear from the folks at Onlive.

Rock Band 3 Is Now Official

I logged on to Twitter today to find a pleasant surprise.
John Drake, Program Manager for Rock Band Network, Manager of Communications for Rock Band, and Drummer for The Main Drag, has something to say about Rock Band 3.
 "VIacom CEO and President Philippe Dauman has confirmed that Harmonix is working on Rock Band 3, for release Holiday 2010! WOOO!"

Looks like we'll all be able to enjoy some Rock Band 3 in the near future! I'm very interested to see how they will change up their game this time around, seeing how this a full on sequel to Rock Band 2.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play some Final Fantasy XIII. :)
 

Brand New Crysis 2 Screens

Crytek never disappoints when it comes to visuals. Some new screen shots of crytek's newest game just hit the internet, and as usual, the visuals blow every other game out of the water.

I can't wait to see the this game in action, and I'm even more excited knowing that I can play Crysis 2 on my of my consoles!
Not having to go through another PC upgrade will defiantly save me, and a lot of other people, some serious cash.
 
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Mass Effect 2 DLC Pack Announced For March

If you missed the "MAKO" in Mass Effect one...you suck...but other than that, there might be some good news for you here. Bioware has just announced that the next Mass Effect 2 DLC pack entitled, "Firewalker", will be available "late March".

The "Firewalker" will include a vehicle, much like the MAKO, but without wheels (and lets hope better controls). The "Hammerhead", the vehicle's name, will be able to reach speeds "up to 120 kilometers per hour" and you'll be able to shoot baddies with its equipped missiles. 5 new missions will also be along for the ride in this DLC, but best of all, its free! Aslong as you bought the game new, and signed up for the cerebus network that is.
Otherwise you'll have to par-take in EA's new "Project Ten Dollar", and actually drop some money.

Comand and Conquer 4: Tiberain Twilight Won't Have LAN Support

Not too long ago the internet freaked out when it was announced that Starcraft 2 won't have any LAN support. It seems that Activision Blizzard isn't the only LAN nazi, becuase EA's Command and Conquer 4 won't have any LAN support either. As well as cutting out LAN support, C&C4 is also cutting dedicated server support.

Lead Designer Sam Bass commented on this issue, The player progression system works "across single-player, multiplayer and skirmish and all the information is stored in a server. So if you go to another machine -- friend’s house, Internet café -- whatever, you can login with your profile and all the stuff you’ve unlocked is accessible to you there. It all lives on a server so you can’t really do dedicated servers with that."
It seems to be a more popular way to go for companies these days to cut out LAN and dedicated server support. I'm personally not a huge fan of this news, but at the same time, "times are a changin'" and you can't really do anything about that.

No Modding Tools In Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Not all of today's news can be positive, and so, here's some negative news. It seems that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will not include modding tools when it launches early next month. Throughout Bad Company 2's marketing campaign, they have been trying to set themselves apart from Modern Warefare 2 by allowing more player customization on a more technical level. One of the many things that is missing from Modern Warefare 2 is the ability for players to create their own maps. This is something that DICE, Battlefield developer, have always been big supporters of.
However, with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 it seems that releasing the modding tools isn't going to fit in the scheduled time line. Patrick Bach, senior producer on Battlefield Bad Company 2, said that they'd rather focus on making a fantastic game rather than "a buggy game with average gameplay but with modding possibilities."

He did also explain that there will still be a decent amount of user control with the option of changing dedicated servers, “The player can change settings on the dedicated server but there won’t be modding tools included in the retail game".
Even though out of the box modding tools would have been nice, its also good to see that DICE wants to focus mainly on making a kick-ass game versus just trying to 1-up Modern Warefare 2 with player modding tools. I also wouldn't be surprised to see modding tools become available after the game launches, as we have seen with several other games this year.

Command & Conquer Classics Are Now Free!

Yo dawg! We heard you like free stuff so we gave you some free stuff on a day where you already got some free stuff, so you can play free stuff while you play more free stuff. It seems that EA is following the "free stuff" marketing campaign with their release of the Command & Conquer Classics.

The free games included in this well priced package include: Command & Conquer, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun with Firestorm and Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

I really hope this is just the beginning of free games, because I could sure get used to this!
Here's a link to EA's free package, it has free stuff in it.

Dragon Age: Awakening, New Character Velanna

So far the first bit of news that hasn't come from today's X10 event is that Bioware's announcement of a new character in their upcoming Dragon Age expansion.
Dragon Age Origins: Awakening is going to include several new characters when it comes out on March 16, one of which will be Velanna, who seems to be a mage of sorts.

There was no official statement with this video, so your guess on what kind of role this character will play is as good as mine.

Dead Space 2 not coming to the PC

During EA's recent unveiling of their 2011 fiscal line-up, Dead Space 2 seemed to be missing a platform. It turns out that it wasn't a misprint, but rather that EA has decided to make Dead Space 2 a console only title.

There could be multiple reasons as to why EA wants to cut out the PC release, but judging from how low the original Dead Space sales were, I'd say EA is just cutting out the lowest preforming platform. The only official word from EA on the matter was this, "As of right now, a PC SKU is not in the plan".
As someone who played the first Dead Space and loved it, I'm very excited for a sequel, but I was also one of the few who enjoyed the first Dead Space on a PC. I'm sad to see that the PC platform isn't quite as strong with most multi-platform releases, but I can't complain too much when Dead Space 2 is actually coming our way!

Dead Space Extraction might be comming to PSN and XBLA

Dead Space Extraction was one of, if not, the best on-rails first person shooter last year. Unfortunately, it didn't make anywhere near the sale numbers that it needed to called a successful title. But Visceral Games isn't giving up on Dead Space: Extraction just yet.

 In recent news it seems that EA and Visceral Games are sending out surveys to see whether or not people might be interested in a re-vamped Dead Space: Extraction release on Xbox 360's XBLA and Playstation 3's PSN. The survey suggests that the title would go for $15 and that it will be "The same shooting experience in Full HD"