The live action trailer for Metro: Last Light has arrived. After a teaser video, as well as a teaser site was revealed. This is what we’ve been waiting for.

Metro’s latest video shows what life was like before things changed. It had snow, people wearing warm clothes and a siren. There were even cars which drove.

The metro in question is the Moscow metro, which is built with Soviet engineering. It is the place where refugees can hide, to avoid the atomic attack.

Here’s the official blurb for the video:

The Moscow Metro. A monumental feat of Soviet engineering, with a dark secondary purpose – to serve as a refuge in the event of an atomic attack. As the Cold War thawed and the threat of nuclear annihilation seemed to fade, this purpose was forgotten — except by a few, waiting for the signal, ready to open the vaults … the last refuge for the remnants of mankind.

I’m truly excited to play Metro: Last Light. In fact, I might even replay Metro 2033 to amp myself up. So you know, I hardly ever replay games.

4A Games will developing the title, where THQ will publish it. Metro: Last Light, the sequel to Metro 2033, will launch in 2013 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Salute.

CD Projekt RED, developer of the critically acclaimed The Witcher series, has teased a “major announcement” ahead of its conference on May 30th.

Check out the quick video where studio boss Marcin Iwiński — seriously, is that not the best surname ever? — talks about their CD Projekt RED Group Summer Conference and teases the announcement which he promises has nothing to do with his Smurfs t-shirt, unlike Avatar.

The video also discloses details of live streams for those interested, for the event which kicks off at 5PM GMT on the day.

Here’s hoping for a certain ’3′ to be announced. Geralt, oh Geralt.

When the inevitable next generation of consoles eventually do make it to retail, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick expects the publisher to be leading the charge.

The comment came last night during an earnings call where Zelnick said that the company’s mix of strong technology, wholly-owned IP and top talent will stand it in good stead for the upcoming transition to new consoles.

“We expect to be at the front of the line,” he said. “While our financial results were disappointing, the decisions we made position Take-Two for growth and profitability both this year and over the long-term.”

This isn’t the first time he’s said something along those lines, but the man does seem to have a decent plan for the future of Take-Two and for that we can commend him.

What would you be looking forward to from Take-Two when the next generation rolls around? I want a GTA III remake, myself.

I’ve never played Shadow of Colossus, which is apparently one of the best titles to ever be released on the Playstation 2. What I’ve gathered from other people that have plead the game, and the subsequent HD remake, is that Shadow of Colossus engages you in a way that not many games can. Could this feeling possibly be well portrayed on the silver screen.

Well, Hollywood is sure going to give it a shot. Director of the surprisingly “ok” found footage film Chronicle, Josh Trank, has been signed to direct the movie adaptation of the PS2 classic. It’s no secret that Trank is a huge gamer, so maybe hi passion will actually make a film such as this good. Kevin Misher (Public Enemies, The Scorpion King) will produce.

Josh Trank has also recently been signed for a Venom film, as well as Fantastic Four reborn. All I know is that no one could possibly fuck up Venom even more than he was in Spider-Man 3.

Expect an E3 “full of blockbuster games and surprises” from the Ubisoft stable next month.

That’s the official statement from the publisher which also reveals the titles on show at next month’s invite-only E3 press conference at the LA Theater on June 4th, the day I write my last two exams.

There will be “special guests and surprise announcements” as well as showings of Assassin’s Creed III, Far Cry 3, Rayman Legends and Rocksmith.

No, we don’t know what those surprise announcements are either, but here’s hoping they’ll be epic. Pray for Beyond Good & Evil 2, pray for Beyond Good & Evil 2…

“This year’s E3 promises to be one of our biggest and best yet,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “We’re showcasing the strongest, most competitive collection of core titles we’ve had in years, innovative new games for new platforms and a broad line-up that has something for everyone.”

Pray for Beyond Good & Evil 2, pray for Beyond Good & Evil 2…

The previous N7 Operation tasked players with ridding the world of many banshees — many banshees… 3 million to be exact. That mission was unfortunately a wasteful failure.

What the hell, guys.

Okay fine I admit I didn’t get to partake in the weekend either, but I blame the mass (heh) amount of work I had that weekend. In fact I’ve barely played any Mass Effect 3 since then.

As a result however, the coming weekend’s N7 Operation entitled Operation SHIELDWALL, will have a special circumstance in that the terrifically creepy banshees will feature in larger numbers when battling reaper forces but also when fighting other enemy types as well.

Sigh.

The N7 Operation begins Friday, May 25th at 18:00 GMT, and will go until Sunday, May 27th at 17:00 GMT on all platforms. Remember that the “Upload Gameplay Feedback” setting must be set to “On” in order to participate.

Here’s what’s required of you, as well as your potential reward:

Allied Goal: Promote 50,000 characters.
Squad Goal: Promote 3 characters.
Special Circumstance: Due to the failure of Operation SILENCER, more banshees will spawn with Reaper enemies and might also spawn with other enemies.

Squad Goal Success: Squad members awarded a Commendation Pack.
Allied Goal Success: All players awarded a Victory Pack (high chance of containing a Rare weapon).

Go get ‘em, soldiers.

Check out this trailer for Lost Planet 3, revealed by Capcom’s German outlet.

The third entry in the series, according to Lost Planet boss Kenji Oguro, finally realises his vision for the original Lost Planet that released in 2006.

Expect Lost Planet 3 on Xbox 360 and PS3 early next year.

Have you played the previous Lost Planet games? I remember trying out the first one because it had a pretty sweet tech demo included, but that’s about it for my experience with these games.

Meet the Far Cry 3 Insane Edition.

Ubisoft has obviously gone crazy with this pack, and.. yeah, no, it sounded better in my head.

Set for release on September 7th alongside the standalone version of the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC game, the collector’s edition will include almost two extra hours of gameplay, some weapon unlocks, a guide filled with hints and tips, and more.

Check it out:

• A 12cm Vaas Wahine with bobble head!
• Monkey Business – Discover Hurk, a new memorable character and quest giver, and his four unique missions (1 hour additional gameplay)
• The Lost Expeditions -Two suspenseful action packed missions totalling over 40 minutes of additional gameplay and an exclusive weapon (The Japanese gun)
• The Hunter Pack – The M700 hunting rifle and its three collector’s skins.
• The Warrior Pack – A handcrafted dagger and two exclusive tribal tattoos.
• The Predator Pack – Four exclusive rare predators and a multiplayer bow.
• An ‘Insanity Guide’ containing hints and tips to help you survive the island

Pretty decent offering by the looks of it.

The Insane Edition is available for pre-order right now.

Will you be getting this edition or are you rather sticking to the normal edition so you can use the extra cash for another game purchase?

The island has vast tracts of forest, corners of desert, tiny islands, and a huge volcano. There are floating rocks, mushroom cities, buildings made of beetle carapaces. A cross-island journey is one across a vast collection of environments, sceneries and enemy types. 9 years later, you ride across tundra, snow, tundra, a forest and more tundra. With snow. Always snow.

A good friend of mine is a huge Morrowind fanboy, and raises the same complaint with both Oblivion and Skyrim. The two later games, especially (he says) Oblivion, just don’t match up to the variety of locations and scenery in Morrowind. I haven’t really played Morrowind (shock horror!), but from what I can see from screenshots, I have to agree. The cities are all vastly different from one another, and there definitely is a large amount of variety throughout the Morrowind province in terms of ecology.

But I think to limit a game to simply its landscape is to cut out the heart of some of the best games, and Skyrim is included here. In fact, it’ll be my example. Yes, it is predominantly snowy tundra. Have you seen Denmark? Any game set up north near the poles is going to be dominated by an overwhelming sense of white and icicles on your nose.

What makes this sin of similarity forgiveable is the aesthetic and atmosphere of Skyrim. The creators have been incredibly faithful to the idea that inspired the Nords — the Viking style. The names are best said a Swedish accent. Arcane monolyths and henges (as in stone-) dot the landscape. The country feels hostile, defiant and resistant to civilization. As are the people who live there. The place feels steeped in history, with ruins and worn-away roads. Even the taverns have odd stories for how they got their names — many involving Nord mead and hunting trips. And the mythic and folkloric feel to the storyline are fantastically in-tune with Norse myth — it practically feels like it comes out of one of the Eddas.

We gamers are a very visual group of people. Most reviews will spend a good paragraph or three on the graphics of a game. It’s one of the first things gamers will complain about. I know it’s what has prevented me from going back to some older games like Morrowind. And hell, that’s shallow of me. What we need is the gaming equivalent of the blind-date preparation line: “well, they have a great personality.”

I’d like to see gamers openly appreciate the deeper aestheticism of games. The immersive worlds that some can create are unparalleled. The open-world nature of games allows for a kind of depth that most books, TV shows and movies can never achieve, maybe with the exception of Middle Earth. You can take the time out to explore each ruin, from the collapsed Imperial watchtowers to the creepily deserted Dwemer ruins, to the infested mines. You can discover the back-story to taverns, and you can feel the impacts the climate and surroundings have on the fiercely independent people who live there.

Take in the atmosphere along with the scenery.

Let’s just thank every single deity out there that this is not another one of those stupid live-action teaser trailers that made as much sense as this game itself. Wait, maybe that’s what they were intending? Give a really ill-conceived idea of a game some equally bad teasers? Seems legit.

Again, thankfully, this isn’t one of those videos. Instead it’s a little sneak peak at Metal Gear Rising’s title screen, showing off Raiden who looks like he’s posing for a few hundred photographers. The only thing really exciting about this is that it is a leak from an E3 2012 video, which means we’re probably going to see a lot more gameplay, and hopefully a release date given at the famous expo. Whether or not any of that will be able to change my mind about this abomination of a title has yet to been seen.

Give it a watch, if just to see Raiden looking badass one more time.

Having previously worked on World in Conflict, Assassin’s Creed Revelations and currently Far Cry 3′s multiplayer, developer Ubisoft Massive is now working on an MMO for next-gen systems.

This is according to a job ad that comes right out with it, stating that the studio is staffing up for a “highly ambitious AAA Next-gen Online RPG project” going on to mention that applicants should be familiar with the workings of PvP in an online environment.

Speculation has since run rampant that they’re developing an Assassin’s Creed MMO, which could go in any number of ways depending on who you are. Of course, it could well be another of their franchises, or something entirely new.

What are your thoughts on what it could be, given Ubisoft Massive’s experience?

LinkedIn is the internet website equivalent of our very own BT Games and their… internet website. Uhm.

It’s been leak after leak with various budding gaming industry workers who have added games not yet officially released to their online CVs and this time it’s Gran Turismo 6 that got leaked via Sony Computer Entertainment America associate brand manager Brian Dunn.

The CV lists GT6 as one of his current projects, suggesting that the as yet unannounced racer could be further into development than previously imagined. But then this isn’t really much of a surprise, is it?

The profile has of course been deleted now, but you can get the original body of text through the source link, through the beauty of Google cached content.

It isn’t really a great secret that a new Gran Turismo would be coming out, but the question to ask is whether it’s intended for the PlayStation 3 or Sony’s next great console that may or may not involve the use of another random Latin word.

A lot of people bought their PS3s just for Gran Turismo 5, so it’s a fair assumption that if GT6 is a say, a launch title for Sony’s next console, then you can expect a lot of PS4 purchases straight up. What do you think?

Well I’ll be damned. Only one of the gaming industry’s most wanted games ever, Diablo III is now the fastest-selling PC game ever.

According to Activision Blizzard’s internal records and reports from key distribution partners, the game sold 3.5 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability.

This sales total doesn’t even include the 1.2 million copies given to players who signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass promotion.

By the end of the first week, a grand total of 6.3 million players had their hands on a copy of Diablo III.

“We’re definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo 3 and jump in the moment it went live,” said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.

“We also regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience when they did so. I want to reaffirm our commitment to make sure the millions of Diablo 3 players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support.”

With such sales figures it’s no wonder the Error 37 message has run so rampant, within the community. But perhaps this further emphasises the fact that Blizzard’s Auction House and the always-on online requirement that it brought, has actually been more of a liability than anything.

I’m not sure about you but my gaming backlog is a mile long and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. More than that, and as I continue to discover gaming specials, budget bin prices and those Steam specials that seem to forsake me to a library of games –growing quicker than I can manage to play- well it’s fast spiralling out of control. But in that spirit of gaming, in the eternal bliss that is an unforeseeable end to gaming, I thought to reinvigorate some of the older games not getting the playtime they once commanded. It’s a shame really because thanks to a few truly spectacular ‘total conversion’ mods, many of these have a new set of legs. Now I realise there is a potential to add to the issue of too many games, too little time, but I’m hoping that seeing –and potentially trying these mods out- will allow gamers to see that you don’t always need a new game in order to enjoy something new. As for what classifies a total conversion, well as long as it changes enough of the gameplay dynamics (or structure) that is in fact a different game, well then it’ll be good enough for me.

Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge, is a total conversion for Oblivion and trust me when I say it’s good enough to justify a replay despite all the mods being added to Skyrim’s Steam Workshop. Having been in development for over 4 years there is a lot to this game and there are many moments when the mod feels far superior to the game it’s built on.

With about 50 hours and more than 60 story-driven-quests worth of content, as well as synchronised voice acting, new equipment, spells, creatures, races and video sequences; well it’s not hard to see what there is to offer. But the magic isn’t just in what’s added, it’s how you experience the game. It’s more linear than Oblivion, granted, but it also has so much narrative attached to and driving each quest, with many more highly scripted events and little tweaks that make the game enjoyable and somewhat more challenging than vanilla Oblivion. Just watch the video and see what I mean, this is so much more than a simple skin and mechanic tweak.

Link: Nehrim

It all apparently began with a blaster-model and the idea to create a non-commerical Star Wars themed FPS game. And Galactic Warfare does just that, it’s a great amalgamation between the Modern Warfare gameplay mechanics and Star Wars, with plenty of love lathered all over.

With all your favourite Star Wars areas, characters and the recognisable weapons Star Wars is known for, that in combination with the fantastic gameplay behind COD4 and you’ve got a fantastic idea for a mod and an overall excellent mod. So pick your favourite between the Rebel Alliance and Imperial Forces and may the force be with you.

Link: Galactic Warfare

As much as I’d like to, I can’t put it much better than the description given for the game in ModDB itself.

“The Stanley Parable is an experimental narrative-driven first person game. It is an exploration of choice, freedom, storytelling and reality, all examined through the lens of what it means to play a video game.

You will make a choice that does not matter

You will follow a story that has no end

You will play a game you cannot win

…it’s actually best if you don’t know anything about it before you play it :D”

Link: The Stanley Parable

Looking at the image and video it’s easy to tell this is a mod of game; what’s not so easy to figure is that it’s a mod for Crysis Wars. That is until you play it and see the gorgeous visuals and extremely detailed mech paradise this total conversion mod manages. I’m not sure about you but I remember the MechWarrior franchise and with all the art and animation slathered into this mod, well it reminds me so dearly of the things I miss as a child. What makes this most intriguing is the blend between FPS and Simulation genres in a unique massively multiplayer type of experience. Take all of that; throw in a variety of vehicles, weapons, game modes and a ‘Battlefield’ feel and you’ve got quite an awesome little recipe going. Watch the video and then just try and tell me you didn’t immediately break out and reinstall Crysis Wars.

Link: Mechwarrior

“The year is now 2019. The Tiberian World now stands with a very uncertain fate. The two most powerful and influential forces on the planet are trapped in a never ending dead lock of war and combat.”

Sounds like every other Tiberian flavoured Command & Conquer game right? Well it kind of is; Twisted Insurrection is a stand alone, total conversion, based on Tiberian Sun. The great thing is it adds a lot to the tried and trusted formula; like new units, structures and environments that perfectly suit what made Tiberian Sun so great. The music and look is spot on; there are an absurd amount of improvements and changes made to each patch and the gameplay is extremely enjoyable and if anything, quite challenging. If you’re a fan of the old-school RTS or just never had the chance but enjoy the genre; well this is for you.

Link: Twisted Insurrection

In Conclusion:

So that’s it for now, and wow this feature is being posted late, better late than never I always say; just don’t tell Dean ok XD Besides, I really think these mods are worth looking into and having tested them all I would happily vouch for every single one of them. F.Y.I. and if you’re interested in finding more mods of this type, check out ModDB.
 

A fifth Yakuza title has just been revealed by Sega and the first details seem to be keeping to the theme of the game’s increment; 5.

Ryu ga Gokoku 5: Yume Kanaeshi Mono, which sounds extremely sexy and translates literally into Yakuza 5: Person Who Fulfills Dreams, will take place in five cities; Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka, and feature five playable characters; Kazuma Kiryu, Taiga Saejima, Shun Akiyama, Haruka and Tatsuo Shinada, the latter a former baseball player drowning in debt and banned from the sport due to excessive gambling.

The game will be a direct sequel to Yakuza 4 and should release in Japan by year-end, so expect it out in Europe and locally a few months from then.

Have you played the Yakuza games? Is this great news for you?

THQ has announced a new DLC pack for Saints Row: The Third and predictably, it is way over the top. Titled the Penthouse DLC pack, it unleashes several Pets on the streets of Steelport.

You’ll have Nikki Benz, Justine Joli, Ryan Keely, and Heather Vandeven on hand in the fight against the the Syndicate and will cost you $3 (R25.00) on Xbox 360, PS3, or Steam. There’s a trailer above but there’s a stratling lack of jiggle physics to really make it work.

I no longer know what I’m more excited about; this year’s Christmas games rush or the “Early 2013″ release madness. Those could be two taglines used in future, but I’d spend five minutes more on the names if I had a chance. The Tomb Raider reboot and Bioshock: Infinite have already seen themselves pushed to early 2013 releases, and no the Devil May Cry reboot is joining the New Year part.

DMC or Devil May Cry will be releasing on January 15th for Xbox 360 and PS3, with developers Ninja Theory saying that a PC version will follow at a later stage. So yes, the emo looking kid with two pistols and some really big swords that apparently shouldn’t be called Dante will be gracing gamers very early next year. Say what you may about the new look, but the gameplay certainly looks like something I would love as a Devil May Cry fan.

On top of this, Capcom and Ninja Theory also decide to introduce a new character. Meet Kat. She’s a runaway who can see the world of demons, but can’t interact with it. She too is part of the order, and teams up with Dante to provide intelligence and help as he “interacts” with the demon realm. Think Batman and Oracle, just with way more blood and demon parts.

What are your thoughts on the reboot?

A new free-to-play online multiplayer shooter appears!

Sony Online Entertainment used reveal trailer.

It’s super effective!

Okay, I’ll stop.

Reader used glare.

It’s not very effective.

Okay, now I’m done. Sony Online Entertainment has revealed a free-to-play online shooter called Bullet Run.

It’s being developed by Acony and will release on PC this summer.

The game is set in a hypothetical future where reality shows have resorted to getting contestants to shoot at each other for the benefit of entertainment, and… well basically The Hunger Games but for everyone. Players will be granted their “15 minutes of fame” in what one may only assume is some sort of leaderboard system that takes advantage of the game’s setting.

Twenty-player matches will be supported, with six maps and two modes available at launch. Weapons will be customisable with what they’re calling “thousands of potential combinations” but we’ve chosen to report as a lesser version of Borderlands, complete with decals and paint for further personalisation and potential user bans because of swastikas or what have you.

Players will be able to “taunt the crowd” and there will be access to eight “Kill Skills” which are “unique abilities [that] can be trained and unleashed during combat. Each brings in cutting-edge technology for players to use in their match and are unlocked as contestants earn Heat.”

The Kill Skills include “damage heals, berserker mode, enemy-trapping robots, aerial ammo attacks, devastating mini-gun action and more.”

Seems somewhat interesting and since it’s free-to-play it might well be worth a try, regardless. Is your fancy tickled? Not a sexual reference.

I know it’s a few years delayed but I recently finished Call of Duty: Black Ops thanks to a very courteous Marko and having finally done so, I’ve stumbled upon a very definite, very unavoidable truth with regards to my experience.

Treyarch have the right formula when it comes to the Call of Duty games.

Now before you all start with your anti-CoD hate, don’t for a second take this as me defending the so-called copy-pasta allegations that have been thrown in the way of the Call of Duty series. That’s a debate for another time.

What I have previously established is that the Call of Duty series has become something of a no-frills, rollercoaster series akin to a popcorn action flick featuring Jason Statham or Optimus Prime. It doesn’t mean to tell a compelling story, nor does it attempt to immerse you into a new world of discovery and intrigue. All it means to do is throw many explosions at you and have your adrenaline pumping harder than it ever has before, and then turn you into a masochist as you do it all over again on a higher difficulty.

For the purposes of this little featurette, we’re going to talk about just the singleplayer. I’ve already stated my admiration of Treyarch’s attempts at different but not entirely unique multiplayer experiences; such things as the Nazi Zombies mode in World at War and then the Wager matches and other multiplayer modes in Black Ops. But no, let’s talk straight singleplayer experiences.

I can now state that I’ve played every Call of Duty game since the very first one which was based on a then very aged Quake 3 engine but still managed to look glorious for what it was. The original game, its expansion and subsequent sequel all were great games that conveyed excellent story-telling from a historical era that was the craze of the early to mid 2000s; that of World War 2. Call of Duty 3 was Treyarch’s first outing and it was a horrendous tragedy that suffered mass glitches and just broken gameplay. Let’s chalk it down to a n00b attempt and a lesson well learned.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare broke ground because it dared to be different and managed to pull it off. It was a winning formula and sealed the Call of Duty series as a game of the new generation. Also that nuke scene. There were some other really epic moments as well but mostly we just remember the stealth section with Price, and that nuke scene. Holy nuclear warfare apocalypse, right?

Then every Modern Warfare title thereafter opted to get more and more serious, throwing in mass amounts of rollercoaster action without much in the way of humour or light-hearted moments. Sure there were slightly more reserved moments between all the mayhem but mostly those were just to preserve what brain cells we had left before the next assault on our senses. Or dead child, in the case of Modern Warfare 3.

Now Treyarch on the other hand opted to do things a little differently. Sure they were also serious but their execution never quite conveyed it. I remember World at War, crawling through trenches with a flamethrower and driving a tank while a rock soundtrack played in the background. Completely out of place for a game set in World War 2, but that was the point. Then I played a game of headshot with a sniper a block over. The game was over-the-top.

But isn’t that the point of the entire series after Modern Warfare?

In Black Ops, I drove a boat down a river blowing up anything that so much as dared to not sway with the wind in a natural motion, all while the fucking Rolling Stones played in the background. And which song was it? Sympathy For The Devil. There were random points in the game where all of a sudden I heard Creedence or some other band in the background, while shooting everything that moved towards me. Every five minutes there was a slow-motion sequence, some where slow motion wasn’t even required. There were points where I slid down a roof or mountain side in slow motion while shooting things, only for whatever I was sliding towards to blow up in slow motion before I got there. At one point I ran from a fucking avalanche. In slow motion.

Now compare this to Modern Warfare.

A lot of over-the-top sequences, sure. But was it fun? Let’s rather say; was it as fun?

I have to admit that having played the Modern Warfare titles and enjoyed all of them, I still think back to World at War and Black Ops and look at them in a fonder perspective than the Infinity Ward games. Fonder?

I don’t know quite what it is about Infinity Ward recently but they take their games too seriously when really what they actually need to do (said as pretentiously as is humanly possible) is take a step back and look at the intended direction of their series, and then ponder on the possibility of going straight up bonkers. Suitably. They already did a World War 3 arc, so why not go even more crazy?

Look at Treyarch’s next title, if it’s allowed to happen; Black Ops 2 takes place in a future where machinery has rebelled against humans and it is the man that must, ahem… Take Back Earth from the machine. Also something about Terminator and Sky Net. Did you notice what they are riding in that first trailer? That’s right; fucking horses, bro. In the future.

Treyarch know the point of the Call of Duty games and they go about doing it very, very right in their execution when developing CoD titles. World at War and Black Ops are not great games by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s not the point. They will never stand anywhere near BioShock, Red Dead Redemption or Dragon Age 2 (kidding) but again, that’s not the point. That was never the point. The point is entertainment value and no-frills, no-fuss excitement.

The point is having fun.

I had fun when I played Black Ops.

There was a moment while playing the game where I actually stopped and mentally acknowledged exactly that, by thinking: “Damn, this game is awesome. I’m actually having fun. Wow. Something about Mass Effect and Dragon Age.” Or something to that effect…

Treyarch does fun better than Infinity Ward.

For me, the underdog has surpassed the master.

It’s unfortunate then that when they produce such entertaining games, they are hated for it yet Infinity Ward can get away with ‘what they do’, each and every time. But I digress. Once again, topic for another day.

What are your thoughts on the Call of Duty games, besides your usual hate. Try and be civil here; all I’m asking is whether you prefer the Treyarch or the Infinity Ward games, and why.

So Black Ops 2 is happening, that’s just a given now even though we knew it for a while before that. We’re a little more excited for it than with other CoD titles because Black Ops did some things right but can Treyarch go two for two? The game’s director, David Anthony, claims that Treyarch is in fact aiming to rewrite the so-called FPS rulebook with Black Ops 2.

Be warned: large wall of text incoming.

“The only thing we thought about when we put together the Black Ops team was: ‘how can we give people a genuine reason to come back and play?’” he said. “Black Ops was the first time we had essentially collapsed all of the teams we had at Treyarch together into one. It took time for that to settle down.

“At the start of Black Ops 2 we had this team ready to roll from day one, so we wanted to be more ambitious than we’ve ever been in anything we’ve ever worked on. Right from the word go, we rewrote the rules – what could we do differently to raise peoples’ expectations right from the start? So this is in our DNA; this is how we are approaching this game.”

When asked how Black Ops 2 would shake up the tired old CoD formula, Anthony pointed out that the game’s story would include multiple paths and feature new sandbox levels.

“One of the ways we have been most ambitious is in terms of story. I worked with Hollywood screenwriter David Goyer for about the last three months editing the story on the first Black Ops, and we had a really great time. He genuinely enjoyed it, describing the experience as the most fun he’d had since film school 20 years ago.

“So we got to the end of the first Black Ops and he’s like ‘Dave, I want to work on the next one from the start. We’ve taken some risks on the first Black Ops; now let’s rewrite the rules about storytelling in games.’ So right from the start it wasn’t a case of thinking how far do we needed to go to satisfy peoples’ expectations… we’re not even thinking about that. We just want to rewrite the rulebook.

“So the sandbox levels, these are called Strike Force,” he continued. “Let me explain the overall branching story; you have characters – main characters – in the story who will live or die depending on what you do, and it’s not just what you do – it’s the choices you make and your skill in Strike Force. So depending on how skilful you are on those levels, it’ll actually have an influence on the overall Cold War that’s going on. So that’s one example.

“But there are also decisions to be made in the campaign. Say you’ve got to stay on point during a mission but you see a squad mate in danger. So you have to ask yourself: are you going to help him, or are you going to stay on mission? Depending on how you approach that it’ll influence the story; it may even influence the survival of characters.

“You play the game when it comes out in November, and you’re all likely to get different outcomes. So when you get to the end of the game we’re going to make it very clear to you the different things that could have happened. We’re going to make it clear that if somebody died, that that person could have survived. We’re going to make it clear that the Cold War with China was lost or didn’t go well – but that wasn’t necessarily the only outcome. We’re going to make it clear that [villain] Raul Menendez succeeded or failed at certain things owing to your actions.

“So when you get to the end of that game you’re probably going to want to replay it to see how things could have changed if you’d have played in a different way. So you guys could be talking to each other about Black Ops [1] and you could be saying: ‘remember when Frank Woods did this in the level?’ And you’d say: ‘What? He’s dead!’ These kind of things are going to happen; you’ll have these conversations about Black Ops 2. I think it’s going to be a really interesting experience for people.”

At this juncture I’d like to present just one counter-argument: all with the same engine that’s been running Call of Duty since 2007? Rather curious given how much effort they seem to be putting in everywhere else, wouldn’t you say?

We’ve all been bullied, right? Mostly by a certain drunken Commanding Officer, but pretty much throughout our life or at some point building up.

Here’s a game that empowers you to fight back, or at the very least shows you how to look cool while fantasising about doing just that.

Meet Kung Fu Superstar, a Kinect game by Kinesthetic games — a new studio formed by developers from Lionhead Studios, Codemasters and EA — that claims to teach you real kung-fu techniques.

“The world’s first action game where players fight using real Kung Fu techniques that the game teaches them,” says the official statement.

“Players will relive the epic journey of Danny Cheng, a young aspiring martial artist, as he rises through the ranks of international fame and stardom.”

Because really, it’s just that easy.

Plays will go into training to learn “authentic martial arts techniques and level up Danny’s fighting abilities, as they improve their own knowledge of Kung Fu” before taking their skills onto, wait for it, movie sets, to perform choreographed fight scenes.

Whether or not that means ‘Kung Fu rhythm game’ remains to be seen, but for now just check out the trailer and let us know what you think.

Resistance: Burning Skies will take the first person shooting action from the Resistance series and put itself literally into your hands. Prepare for kicking some Chimera ass on your PlayStation Vita.

Name: Resistance: Burning Skies
Genre: First Person Shooter
Players: 1
Multiplayer: Yes (4-8 players over WiFi)
Platforms: PlayStation Vita
Developers: Nihilistic Software
Publishers: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: 29 May 2012

As New Jersey fire fighter and National Guardsman Tom Riley, you’re about to come face to face with the brutal Chimeran invasion force in this blistering shooter built from the ground up for PlayStation Vita. The latest installment in the hugely successful franchise focuses on a new mission that parallels and complements the existing Resistance storyline.

First person games doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to handheld platforms, mostly due to the lack of a second analog stick. However this will hopefully give Resistance: Burning Skies a big boost due to the fact that the PlayStation Vita will allow smooth first person shooting action functionality with the help of a second analog stick. This is one big bonus the handheld folks have been waiting for. Burning Skies makes use of the touch-screen controls, due to the lack of analog sticks that can be clicked and the missing L2 and R2 buttons.

The touch-screen can be tapped for an alternate fire mode and an icon in the lower right corner can be used for a melee attack. The grenade cooking also makes for some unique and innovative touch screen-mechanics. You can cook your grenade by aiming and moving your finger slowly over the screen. It promises to utilize the controls fully and in a unique way.

On the multiplayer side of things, you can play 4-8 player matches, providing you with 4 vs. 4 team modes, as well as 2 vs. 2 multiplayer matches. XP is earned through kills and performing killstreaks, allowing you to unlock upgrades for your weapons. The game provides players with 3 different multiplayer game modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Survival. These modes will be playable with friends using the PlayStaion Vita’s WiFi connection, but it won’t be playable online. The built-in microphone and Bluetooth headset can be used to communicate with your amigos.

Let’s hope that Resistance: Burning Skies makes portable first person shooting a truckload of fun.

XCOM, X-COM and X COM. Whichever way you say it, or whichever way it’s meant to be said, there are two XCOM titles in the pipeline so let’s determine which one we’re talking about here. First we have XCOM: Enemy Unknown which is a strategy revival of the loved franchise. XCOM is a first-person shooter set in the world of XCOM, and it’s this game that has been delayed yet again.

XCOM was originally slated to release sometime last year. Unsurprisingly it was pushed to the end of 2012, marking yet another holiday release that was sure to bring in some fine sales figures, despite all the bitching from long-time franchise fans. Then earlier this year it was delayed to an early 2013 release. Now, as of yesterday, the game has been officially pushed all the way to a 2014 release, after being confirmed in a Take Two fourth quarter earnings call.

In fact, XCOM could release anywhere in Take Two’s 2014 fiscal year, which stretches from April 2013 t March 2014. Somewhere during that time, XCOM should release. Then again, after all this waiting, does anyone really care anymore?

Here’s to hoping that XCOM makes a strong showing at this year’s E3, to remind people that the wait is worth it. If not, XCOM may just be the biggest waste of development time ever.

Warner has put out a trailer for LEGO Batman 2 and it shows quite a lot to be frank. You see a lot of villains, a lot of heroes and a lot of Gotham City. Yes, the game is open-world and pretty expansive by the looks of it.

LEGO Batman 2 is out this winter for 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, and Xbox 360. By the way, the music in that trailer makes me so nostalgic, it hurts.

DC already has its own MMO in DC Universe Online and so it seems only logical that marvel should have one,e specially when Marvel has a greater volume of totally awesome characters. It is thus without further ado that I give you Marvel heroes, an MMO from Gazillion Entertainment which features dozens, maybe even gazillions (haha), of Marvel characters.

Behold, the trailer for said game which features a good deal of gameplay for such a short video. In it you’ll see some of Marvel’s biggest players and some of those Avengers not included in the movie. There’s also Deadpool, you gotta love Deadpool. The game is said to have a storyline that touches on the most epic arcs from the fictional universe and it’s being penned by legendary writer Brian Michael Bendis who’s received high acclaim for a lot of his work especially the stellar job he did on Ultimate Spider-Man.

Did I mention the game will be free-to-play and we should hear more about it next month? No,? Well, now I have.

Doesn’t it just want to make you hit the bottle…

Rockstar Games has pushed back the PC launch of Max Payne 3 due to “production and logistical issues” which sees the game releasing on June 1st instead of May 29th.

This, from a game already releasing later on the platform that popularised it. Oh Rockstar.

Of course, if you were of keen eye you would know that the game is releasing locally on June 1st anyway, so why the big deal about it? Turns out they were trying to push the release date forward.

“Our community has always preferred a single worldwide launch date, and while we couldn’t make it happen for the console versions, we decided to work toward a global release for Max Payne 3 on PC,” explained Rockstar’s Jennifer Kolbe.

Apparently those “production and logistical issues” were to blame for the delay, preventing them from bringing the EU launch forward to hit the May date, for a global launch. Thus, they “worked with US retail to align with the original European launch window and set a new global release date of June 1.”

Oh Rockstar.

Have you been playing any Max Payne 3 on console? Or are you awaiting its triumphant return to PC?

So the joke might be a little old by now, but in the interest of humour who cares?!

Check out the video above for probably the best LOL you’ll have all day, or your money back. Just kidding, there’s no money involved when you watch videos here. We’re not a porn site — sorry kluch.

Nevertheless there are some sexist undertones so I would ask that you please ignore those in the interest of lulz.

I’ll bet a lot of gamers secretly wished Diablo III really was a girl (or guy, for our female / homosexual male conglomerate). At least then you could save your progress and reload if things went south. That, or you come to the realisation that millions of other gamers are also playing it. Some at the same time.

Getting a bit ahead of ourselves are we, Avalanche Studios?

Just Cause 2 is only a few years old with not so much as a mention of Just Cause 3 and Square Enix has gone out and registered domains for Just Cause 4.

The domains were secured through internet brand protection firm Corporation Service Company, and include JustCause4.com, JustCause4.fr, JustCause4.co.uk, JustCause4.de, JustCause4.it and JustCause3.it.

Yes, only the latter has the “3″ in it, while the rest are either incredible gun-jumping or pre-emptive issue avoidance measures.

Does this perhaps mean that Just Cause 3 is in development? Maybe even scheduled for a release some time soon? The one way we definitely can know is to look out for it at E3.

Would you be keen for a new Just Cause game?

Are you absolutely, completely and utterly excited for Dishonored, the first-person stealth action game from Arkane Studios? Well, you should be because the game is simply amazing if the gameplay and debut trailers are anything to go by. While we were all busy looking at Diablo III, Bethesda sneakily launched three teaser sites for Dishonored.

The three domains are WeaponsOfRevenge.com which doesn’t have much going for you besides a little flash game where you can either save or spare plague-infested rats. Sparing them earns you a screensaver which I am downloading at present. I’d say this is supposed to highlight the morality and freedom of choice available to players in the game.

Next up you have RevengeAtHand.com which appears to be empty at present. Finally, perhaps the coolest one of the three, there’s RevengeSolvesEverything.com which focuses on protagonist Corvo’s mask. It is perhaps one of the sickest designs I’ve ever seen. The site allows you to rotate the mask for a full 360° view but only about the vertical axis which is a pity but it’s still cool. You can also download two epic wallpapers from the site.

You can expect Dishonored to land silently in October for PS3, PC and Xbox 360.

It’s been one of those days for PC gamers. You know the ones, where the gaming world turns and politely says “Fuck you” in your face. Earlier today we reported on how PC gamers playing Diablo III have nearly no defense against hackers who want to steal their account, and now this. EA has started rolling this potentially dangerous ball, by saying that as of next year most of their titles for PC will require 64-bit Windows.

What does that mean my not so tech savvy friends? Well, it works like this. If you have less than 4GB of RAM in your PC, you should be running a 32-bit version of windows. If you have more, you should be running a 64-bit version. So basically anyone with a system below 4GB of RAM will have a hard time running any games that come from EA, which include Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Crysis and Mass Effect. EA has revealed that come 2012 a whole range of titles using DICE’s Frostbite 2 engine – the one powering games such as Battlefield 3 – will need a 64-bit operating system to even run. So yeah, it’s just games with Frostbite 2 for now, but don’t expect this to be a once off thing.

In fact, I’m surprised it hasn’t come sooner. As technology races forward, we are forced to keep up. Just like processors with single core and even some dual cores have become completely outdated for gaming, so will systems with less than 4GB of RAM. Now you may be thinking “what idiots are still running games on a 32-bit system?” Quite a lot of people in fact, as a recent survey on Steam revealed that only 53% of PC gamers run a 64-bit system.

That means essentially one in two people will have to upgrade their hardware and Windows come the end of the year if they want to stay with the curve. Great time for a Windows 8 upgrade, no?

Ghost Recon Commander was announced last month as a complimentary free-to-play Facebook game that enables players to unlock exclusive weapons, weapon skins and other bonuses for use in both Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Ghost Recon Online.

The Ghost Recon title for everyone’s favourite social network when they’re not busy tweeting is an isometric tactical combat game that allows players to develop their own Ghost, “an elite Special Forces operator utilising stealth, firepower and exciting near-future technology to take command of the battlefield against impossible odds.”

Brenda Brathwaite, lead game designer at developer Loot Drop, had the following to say abut the game: “As a long time fan of the Ghost Recon franchise, I wanted to make a game that would appeal to me both as a fan and a gamer. Ghost Recon Commander highlights the tactical gameplay that fans of the series will enjoy in a social environment that’s accessible to all types of gamers.”

You know you’ve got time on your hands that you usually kill on Facebook anyway. When you’re not here, of course. Why not go ahead and try it out?

You all know the story. You rush home with your recently bought game and can’t wait to start playing it. But wait! You have to install it. This is more common among the PC gaming folk, but there are some console folk like myself who prefer to install it first, and by doing that, I’m partaking in masochistic activities. Please note, that this not intentional, but rather a force of habit. Call it an OCD tendency if you will, but I really can’t help it, it, it. What makes this a rather touchy subject to some gamers, is that you have waited very long for said game and now you ACTUALLY have it, but now you have to wait for the monotonous task of installation.

For everyone, but more so, the PC folk that have to wait for a game to install or even worse, update, here are some activities you can partake in while your game installs and you don’t know what to do with your torturous, percentage-checking time:

#5: Binge eating

You all know what I’m talking about, right? Run off to the fridge with flailing arms to grab a snack whilst waiting for aforementioned game to finish unloading itself onto your hard drive (no pun intended). A snack becomes a few snacks, a few snacks turns into a meal, a meal envelopes into a massacre of food and so everything begins to get out of hand. You wait for a 2 disc game to install and your fridge is empty without any prior notice. You truly feel crap and you pass out due to abnormal intake of edible treats and miss out on long-awaited gaming time. It’s a sad and merciless truth.

#4: Annoy someone

You’re sitting there. Bored. Waiting. Don’t know what to do with your time of gaming installation. You hear footsteps. “Hey, fellow person!” And before you know it, you have someone to follow. Follow them wherever they go. Word of warning: Do not follow them into the bathroom. If this is in fact someone you rely on financially or live with, don’t ever follow them into the bathroom while your game installs. You will lose a tooth and most possibly the roof over your head. Not to mention the game you are trying to install. It’s always fun to copy someone or breathe very hard when you are in their immediate vicinity or even tackle them just to let time pass and you and your game will be reunited with the grace of being installed, but it’s not always recommended.

#3: Get creative

Artists can get creative. I don’t necessarily mean that you must draw or paint something. Whether it be drawing, painting, writing or playing a musical instrument, it still counts as a creative activity. If you’re in a gang, you can always go out and let everyone in the area know that you and your “gang” are the true rulers of town and will ultimately rule the planet. Graffiti is a nice way to go. It’s old, it’s hip and it’s illegal. You will be busy spraying your gang’s logo while waiting for Diablo 7 to install and the local authority will have you bagged and tagged before you know it. Unless you can outrun a bullet. If you look at it like this, you could have doodled in Paint while the game was installing and be able to play it afterwards. Now you have to get bailed out of jail and you are considered a matter of state security. Don’t look at me like that, these kinds of things happen to impatient gamers.

#2: Do a crossword or some type of magazine based puzzle

Magazines and newspapers are full of puzzles. Sudoku, crossword puzzles and all types of “See if you can find the hidden serial killer in the picture below” ordeals. We have all tried and gotten our asses served by not knowing the synonym for “Floccinaucinihilipilification”. You are just innocently waiting for your game to install and doing a crossword puzzle, but as soon as frustration takes over, you begin to get negative thoughts about stabbing the crossword puzzle with a newly sharpened knife, setting it on fire or even eating it. Let’s say you go with the “setting it on fire” option, you take the risk of burning down your house. And then you can’t play Diablo 7. It’s a sad, sad world we live in…….Master Jack.

#1: Staring bluntly at the screen

If none of the solutions above tickle your fancy, may I perhaps suggest just sitting and waiting for the game to finish? It’s interesting to see a progress bar being filled, don’t you agree? It’s safe and hazard-free.

ZeniMax Media, the company that published Skyrim has already put its name all over the Fus Ro Dah dragonshout and is now marking its territory all over the term ‘Dragonborn’. Why? Aliens. No really, ZeniMax is worried about aliens invading Earth to steal their property and so has moved to trademark everything Skyrim-related because the aliens won’t even bother if it’s all trademarked.

According to the official application filed by ZeniMax, Dragonborn refers to any “individual who has been born with the blood and soul of a Dragon, but the body of a mortal.”

Is it just me or does seem pathetically infantile? Yes, Skyrim is a hot property and ZeniMax should protect it but they’re really just akin to a lesbian carrying condoms. Unless, the company’s planning to bring out some crazy Skyrim apparel and assorted paraphernalia.

Retro City Rampage has been in the works for years, and finally indie developer Brian Provinciano is ready to release it on the PlayStation 3 and Vita.

He’s also ready to show us a glimpse of what to expect, with the trailer above. Check it out, why don’t you.

Retro City Rampage is a somewhat fun-looking game of open-world design that takes the top-down urban gameplay styling of earlier GTA games and mixes it with several other genres, as well as some retro gaming influence including ’80s coin ops and more.

For a release date, all we’ve got thus far is “soon” but expect more in the coming weeks.

Today is a glorious day because after much consideration, thinking, procrastination, Diablo III, Torchlight II and trolling random strangers on Facebook; I decided to take this column in a wholly different direction. I felt that the previous series of columns were lacking direction, and so I’ve decided to change this space up a bit. From now on, the column will be dedicated to ramblings about all things indie. I hope you enjoy your stay in Adam’s Indie Corner. You may not leave alive. That was a joke, just kidding (maybe not…).

So let’s talk ‘indie’. I’ve been playing Torchlight II lately with Timothy, the uber ‘terminator-interdimensional-thingamajig’, and yes I just combined three words with hyphenation. Besides the comparisons to Diablo III which are quite garish in my opinion. I’m learning much more from playing the game which has a more stringent focus on the impact of skill trees, stat choices than Blizzard’s latest release. Which in all honesty, offers more freedom in your character builds without the implications of actually having to pay for making bad stat and skill selections later on in the game; yet, in this respect Torchlight II on the surface has more stringent build directives when it comes down to the gritty.

Many people probably throw around the odd word or two that Torchlight II is a straight-up Diablo clone. However, it takes a totally different direction and offers a variety of altered improvements to the established Diablo formula (which many games copy) and has forged an identity for itself, which can be read about here. The game has evolved to become something greater than a mere clone.

But what is cloning exactly? Cloning is the act of copying a game in both aesthetics and gameplay, without due credit to the original creator, publishing and selling said copy for a profit. Cloning is a prevalent practice in the indie dev community and is the dark side of online stores, like the Apple store and even Android releases are guilty of this to some extent. You just have to look at the devs behind GameLoft who outright clone popular games for maximum profit. Or the myriad of clones building on the gameplay mechanics established by Angry Birds, with slight visual differences and few varied soundtrack choices by the devs.

Cloning as with everything else is a prime example of showing how trends in game design work. This especially runs rampant in the indie scene because of a lack of funding to hire lawyers to defend indie dev studios from copyright infringement in regards to intellectual property rights. Intellectual property law is its own kettle of fish, and is complex and would mean high costs for a struggling indie dev studio. This is because they don’t have the backing of a huge publisher like EA and Activision who would sue the pants off a development studio whom cloned one of their games.

A way many of the indie studios combat the allure of inferior clones of their games is to offer sales of their games on download services like Steam. Most notably, in the special indie bundles at ridiculously low prices, and other download services like PSN and Xbox Live have started to offer indie titles at competitive prices. But the scourge of cloning is still ever present like some omnipotent goblin with the creative skill of a monkey and the morals of a dictator. That might be a bit harsh. But you get the picture, and this is the struggle for many up and coming indie developers.

Well, this was just bound to happen eventually right? I mean, Diablo III has checked all the necessary boxes for a troubled release. Server failure on launch day? Check. Constant server downtime and login issues? Check. Diablo III accounts being hacked and stolen from? Well, that’s a check now as well.

Normally most press sites report on these incidents happening to other poor players that have sent in their stories. Ironically, this time it was actually a writer from Eurogamer that had his own personal account hacked. This was discovered after the person who had purchased the stolen account decided to have a conversation with the editor of Eurogamer, who then realized something was wrong after his apparent online friend seemed to have changed time zones overnight. This is just one instance where accounts have been reported as hacked. Some users on the Blizzard forums have even reported that their accounts with Authenticators were broken into, which is a huge blow for Blizzard’s online integrity.

Blizzard quickly tried to calm players by sending out a long apology and advising players to link their accounts to Authenticators, which can be bought or downloaded onto most smartphones.

Battle.net® Account Security & Diablo® III

We’d like to take a moment to address the recent reports that suggested that Battle.net® and Diablo® III may have been compromised. Historically, the release of a new game — such a World of Warcraft® expansion — will result in an increase in reports of individual account compromises, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing now with Diablo III. We know how frustrating it can be to become the victim of account theft, and as always, we’re dedicated to doing everything we can to help our players keep their Battle.net accounts safe — and we appreciate everyone who’s doing their part to help protect their accounts as well. You can read about ways to help keep your account secure, along with some of the internal and external measures we have in place to help us achieve our security goals, at our account security website here: www.battle.net/security.

We also wanted to reassure you that the Battle.net Authenticator and Battle.net Mobile Authenticator (a free app for iPhone and Android devices) continue to be some of the most effective measures we offer to help players protect themselves against account compromises, and we encourage everyone to take advantage of them. In addition, we also recently introduced a new service called Battle.net SMS Protect™, which allows you to use your text-enabled cell phone to unlock a locked Battle.net account, recover your account name, approve a password reset, or remove a lost Authenticator. Optionally, you can set up the Battle.net SMS Protect system to send you a text message whenever important changes occur on your account.

For more information on the Authenticator, visit http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/battle-net-authenticator-faq

For more on the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator, visit http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/battle-net-mobile-authenticator-faq

For more on Battle.net SMS Protect, visit http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/battlenet-sms-protect

We also have other measures built into Battle.net to help protect players. Occasionally, when Battle.net detects unusual login activity that differs from your normal behavior — such as logging in from an unfamiliar location — we may prompt you for additional information (such as the answer to one of your security questions) and/or require you to perform a password reset through the Battle.net website. World of Warcraft players might be familiar with this security method already, and Diablo III players may begin to encounter it as well.

As always, if you think you’ve been the victim of an account compromise, head to the “Help! I’ve Been Hacked!” tool at http://us.battle.net/en/security/help for assistance.

Thing is, if accounts with Authenticators are being hacked into, what defense do we have?

THQ has put out a teaser for the soon to be released live-action trailer for its upcoming sequel to Metro 2033. Metro Last Light is due out in the first quarter of 2013 and the trailer is due a little bit sooner – Thursday 24 May to be exact.

That’s really all there is to say other than that you can probably expect to see a lot of this at E3 next month.

Not us as in gamers but us as in the industry. Heavy Rain creator David Cage feels that there should be more games for all ages and all tastes and that there is way too much violence around in gaming.

Of course, he’s not suggesting that we get rid of video game violence but that it doesn’t need to be everywhere and maybe he’s got a point but I really don’t think the industry is as violent as he’dlike to believe. Then again, I’m 19 and do like a good bit of violence and dismemberment so I may not be the best judge on this matter.

Just looking at Cage’s last game, Heavy Rain, it was a game designed for a mature audience and as such it had very mature content, some of which was violent. Then you look a ta game like Ratchet and Clank which is designed to appeal to a broad range of ages, including children. These games do have violence in the sense that you shoot things and beat them up but it’s that innocent, consciously removed sort of violence so that kids don’t actively realise that they are beating a bunch of enemies up until they disintegrate or explode into a cluster of bolts.

This is what cage had to say in an interview with Develop:

“I think all I want to do is offer some diversity to the medium,” he said. “I want to give people the chance to buy something other than ten different first person shooters and RPGs.

“There should be games for all ages, all tastes. Whatever is possible with interactive entertainment should be explored, and I don’t think we’re seeing that right now.

“The industry is too far balanced towards kids and teenagers. It’s too focused on violence,” Cage added.

What’s a bit more interesting is Cage calling for more diversity in general in gaming and particularly in the “interactive drama” genre which Heavy Rain belongs to. We last heard from Cage a few days ago when he said that he doesn’t really care for next-gen technology.

My initial reaction to seeing these: “Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Three screenshots for Beyond Good & Evil 2 were recently posted, showing off some in-engine shots of Jade at an arbitrary market area which was first shown in an environmental tech video.

That was enough for me to go wild with excitement.

I love Beyond Good & Evil and there is a special place for Jade in my heart.

I totally secretly believe that the Jade in this series is based on one Jade Raymond, but obviously a far more sci-fi-kick-ass version, with greener eyes. Or maybe I just love the name Jade.

Here’s hoping there will be more Beyond Good & Evil 2 reveals in the coming months, perhaps even at E3. It’s looking good already, and this is pretty much all we’ve seen.

Warner has released official images of the Batman: Arkham City Game Of The Year Edition box art, and we’ve got the Xbox 360 version to show to you.

This one was picked especially, because we’ve seen a version of it before. A while ago, IGN got a little creative with some hinted box art and revealed this to the world:

Yes the game received a lot of awards and was highly regarded, but did they really have to slap on all of those accolades on the cover? Does Batman really need the excessive flashing of e-peen, or are Rocksteady unsure of the GotY’s ability to sell copies? Whatever it is, the box art just feels way too busy. Granted not as busy as IGN’s version, but still.

That said, I have a better version, pending approval:

What would you put on box art if you were allowed to design one for a game?

Much like the trailer for Black Ops 2 that we showed you earlier, Medal of Honor: Warfighter was another prized game that was shown during the Champions League final that took place this past weekend.

Fucking Chelsea…

Coming back to the television ad, it’s basically a typical trailer featuring some guys getting shot, some others being taken hostage, and the usual military fluff all to the theme of some heavy metal. Groundbreaking and revolutionary, and stuff.

The trailer reveals that if you pre-order the game, you will receive a US Navy Seal Sniper unlock.

Are you looking forward to another military shooter? Here’s hoping they do something differently, we could definitely use some variety in our Mike Oscar Hotel.

Ubisoft has revealed a brand new trailer for Far Cry 3. It’s a gameplay trailer which shows a bit of fire destroying a building, where alongside that, there’s an immensely annoying cough and a few cries for help.

In the trailer, the player needs to shoot water pipes to get to Lisa. He needs to navigate his way through flames like a hero. It’s three minutes long. Sit back, because it’s not as action packed as you think.

Here at eGamer we pride ourselves on delivering good wholesome family entertainment for everyone. With cerebral thought provoking articles about games and gaming culture. We would never ever resort to posting a nice pair of digital jubblies (aka breasts) to impress you. Okay who are we kidding? 

It seems that most game developers have reached the uncanny valley with games becoming more and more photo realistic, where they pushing boundaries, graphical limits, and realism. But it seems the developers have reached one major hurdle in the quest for the uncanny valley and realism, and that would the breasts. Yes, the breast physics in games. More often than not, breasts take on a life of their own and forgo the natural law of physics. A good example of this would be Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2 and Soulcalibur, both of which have breasts with minds of their own.

These games have reached cult status due to their legendary physic defying bounce, and not for their “cerebral” gameplay. Having said that, on very rare occasions are there games that get breast physics right. One game with good breast implementation is Devil May Cry 4. Devil May Cry 4 has just the right amount of cleavage, bounce and jiggle to make any gamer geek who hasn’t had the privilege of having a real pair in-front of them drool with geeky joy. While playing Ninja Gaiden 2 I also noticed that Team Ninja’s groundbreaking bouncy breasts™ technology has been successfully transferred from Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2 to Ninja Gaiden 2. For those who haven’t played the game: lead female character, Sonja, also sports a pair of physic defying breasts.

Is breast physics a growing problem in the gaming industry? Also, did you see what I did there? 

Could it be that the study of breast physics in games have taken a back seat to the study of fluid dynamics and quantum mechanics instead? Or, is there a huge number of game designers who simply don’t get out of the office enough to interact with a real women, with real breasts? Probably the former, I might add.

In the dark void that is the unrealistic portrayal of the female anatomy, there lies a glimmer of hope in CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 2. In one of the most noticeable times in game development history, game designers have gotten the realistic portrayal of the female anatomy right. From this, it’s evident that CD Projekt RED’s developers have indeed spent some time with with real women, and not female heroines who are top heavy, dressed in as little armour as possible.

I believe that there is a thin line between realistic displays of nudity, and gratuitous gravity-defying jiggly bits bouncing everywhere. That being said, I think that boobs and cleavage will always be a part of video games. The industry is slowly growing up, and it’s now at the point where developers are listening to gamers and their concerns. But like the movie industry, some video games will continue to sell sex, where certain people will continue to buy into that.

Don’t get me wrong, as a hot blooded male I enjoy looking at a perfectly rendered pair of boobs. However, if we use the “video games is an art theory”, the presence of breasts in games could be seen as the developers trying to sell something specific, like sex or sexuality — and this is often seen as wrong. Although, it’s not always the case.

It’s no big secret that most people like breasts, but there is a fine line that needs to be walked here. You simply cannot dismiss the presence of boobs and cleavage if it is used correctly in games, opposed to being the main object of advertising. The female body is the most beautiful thing on this earth, and if done correctly, it can offer a lot more to games. Hopefully, not too far in the near future, game developers will eventually get it right. But, until then, we can only yearn for a perfect pair of digital jubblies.

Are you a fan of the classics?

Long to have those Sega games of old on your shiny, current-gen Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3? Well now you can, with a whole truck-load of collections for the retro enthusiast, releasing to both the PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Folks on PS3 will get a selection of six games on May 22nd, all sold separately for $4.99, while the Microsoft lovers will get a fair bit more, with four retro bundles grouped by series and sold for 800 Magical Sexy Points per pack.

Check out the official list of what’s included:

PlayStation Network:

Release Date: May 22nd ($4.99 each):

Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade)

Wonder Boy in Monster World (Mega Drive)

Monster World IV (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Super Hang-On (Arcade)

Revenge of Shinobi (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System)

Xbox Live Arcade

Release Date: 5/23:

Monster World Collection (800 MSP)

Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade)

Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Monster World IV (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Alex Kidd & Co. Collection (800 MSP)

Super Hang-On (Arcade)

The Revenge of Shinobi (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System)

Release Date: 5/30:

Golden Axe Collection (800 MSP)

Golden Axe (Arcade)

Golden Axe 2 (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Golden Axe 3 (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Streets of Rage Collection (800 MSP)

Streets of Rage (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Streets of Rage 3 (Genesis/Mega Drive)

See anything you like? Of course you do. Go get it once it’s out, you old-schoolers.

R2-D2 in Grand Theft Auto IV. Who ever said that PC gamers don’t know how to have fun with some mod tools? This awesome little mod for Rockstar’s title puts you in control of the iconic droid from Star Wars, and allows you to go on one hell of a murderous rampage. I mean seriously, just watch the video above. It’s utter carnage sometimes, but the best part is still near the end, around the 3:43 mark. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

I bet that header is confusing the bejeezus out of you, isn’t it? Well, it would make some sense if Treyarch was still making WW II games because then we’d have a German team who dominated the entire time and looked stronger but lost it in the end to the English and their allies; but I digress.

Anyway here is the new trailer for Black Ops 2 which aired during Saturday’s Champions League Final. It’s basically everything you’ve seen already int eh debut trailer but with a few added scenes. Black Ops 2 is out November 13. By the way, the game’s tagline seems to “The Future is Black”. Cue obvious racial jokes.

Last week rumours surfaced that Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager Development would be developing Dead Island 2, the successor to last year’s zombie RPG which made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

That rumour has now been squashed by the publisher.

“We are neither working with Yager on Dead Island 2 nor do we have any contractual agreement with Yager about any project at this point,” said Deep Silver development director Guideo Eickmeyer.

“Yager and Deep Silver do have a very close relationship, based on personal and professional connections between the parties. There is a legitimate chance that we will – at some point – work together on a title – and I would not even exclude the possibility that this could be something within the Dead Island franchise,” he went on to say. Very teasingly.

Clarifying, he added: “We have neither something in place or in discussion between the parties that would explain such a news, nor do we have Dead Island 2 in concept or production with external partners.”

Of course Techland, the Polish-situated developer of the first game, was previously spotted filing a trademark for ‘Dead World’ in the US, so this isn’t the first time the possibility of a Dead Island sequel has been hinted at.

The question is; would you want one?

I recently watched the video game episode of Community and that got me thinking. We might not all like the same shows – except for Game of Thrones, everyone loves that – but at some point in our lives we have all thought what it would be like if our favourite series got made into a game. I know what you’re thinking and please, just hear me out. Yes, a number of series’ have already been made into games that were ‘meh’ at best and that’s the cold reality of life but eGamer exists in a realm outside of reality where potatoes are kings, drunkards are praised like knights and you are not confined to the constrictions of life as we know it.

We’ve already got less than favourable video games out fan favourites such as Prison Break and LOST and more recently we’ve heard talk of a Family Guy game and even a South Park RPG. There’s even a Game of Thrones game (hehe) which just released. Admittedly, the last one is based more on the books than the award-winning TV series they have spawned but we’ll still count it regardless.

The problem with most of these games though is that they are rarely ever handled by a developer capable of doing the series any justice, as is almost always the case with licensed games. Besides that, even if the game does turn out somewhat favourable, it doesn’t always capture the series effectively and that’s rather disappointing.

It is thus that we have brought you to the wondrously whimsical world of eGamer where dreams do come true and you are only limited by your imagination. So, while here you have a chance to think about which of your favourite TV series’ really deserves a video game made in its image. You might even like to specify what genre game it would be and possibly even go into specific detail about gameplay or story or just the general setting for this game.

Personally, I’d love to see a properly done Heroes game (even if the series imploded worse than the WTC) or possibly even a Nikita video game because while the series really boils down to little more than hot girls and good action, it’s got some pretty hot girls and really good action. No, seriously it lends itself to a rather cool Splinter Cell sort of game. Because 3 is my lucky number, here’s a third choice. I’d also like to see a game based on the current Sherlock mini-series but which takes on an episodic style and expands on the series by drawing from other classic Sherlock Holmes stories and possibly even from some of the more obscure ones.

So what about you?

Note: Please keep your hands inside the carriage at all times and please note that the whimsical world of eGamer is a no-smoking zone but feel free to shoot up or take a sip from that hip-flask. Enjoy the ride and be sure to visit the gift shop on your way out.

While most of the world, and Cavie, anxiously wait to see if EA and BioWare’s proposed “Extended Cut” will plug some of the massive holes they left open after Mass Effect 3′s ending, here’s a bit of good news showing that BioWare hasn’t completely forgotten about us. Three main characters in Mass Effect 3 will be making an appearance in the Extended Cut, after their voice actors were brought back to do some more voice work in the booths.

Those three actors are Lance Henrisken (Admiral Hackett), Tricia Helfer (EDI) and Raphael Sbarge (Kaidan). Considering your story might not even have Kaidan in it, expect Kimberley Brooks (Ashley) to be doing some voice work as well. These voice actors have been reportedly called into the booths once more, probably to record some final voice overs for the ending.

Lance Henrisken spoke to G4 about being back:

“I just did another session with them…They were saying there’s a little bit of a problem with the abruptness of the ending. So we did a whole series of things to add to the end of the game, to live up to the quality they’ve been doing.”

“Usually, when a guy loses the game, the game shuts down; it’s over. It’s done. The players don’t like that.”

Hell no we don’t, Admiral.

One common constant of all the Elder Scrolls games thus far is that although you a part of something far greater than yourself, your character is usually the one who plays the pivotal role; whether you’re the lucky bastard who escaped jail in Cyrodiil, the Dovahkiin of Skyrim, and so on. The Elder Scrolls Online, though an MMO, aims to nonetheless have the same basic ethos.

Game director Matt Firor has said that the game will feature ’100 percent solo’ sections that cover the main story, effectively keeping the emphasis on the player being the main hero of their journey, like all the other Elder Scrolls games.

“In the Elder Scrolls games you’re always the hero, whether you want to or not,” explained Firor in an interview. “The last thing you want to do is have the final confrontation with Mehrunes Dagon as he’s stomping across the imperial city and you see like 15 guys behind you waiting to kill him because they’re on the same quest.”

Depending on your views of the MMO gaming world, you might well be inclined to agree that the focus is taken very much off the player as an individual of power in the game, and placed onto a team of players instead. A so-called guild. See what I did there? Uhm…

“So as MMO online designers, the thing we needed to make sure we hit the most was that feeling that you’re awesome, you’re the hero, and we do that through a mix of technology where, when I am confronting a major foe in the game I’m doing is in an instance where I’m alone.”

He added: “We have a whole part of the game that’s 100 percent solo which is the main story where the world focuses on you, you’re the hero. Everything you do is solo and the world reacts to you that way.”

So why not just call it a normal Elder Scrolls title and release it as such, with multiplayer support? Especially if the multiplayer is entirely optional, for those who might not care for side-quests and the like, or something along the lines of Demon’s Souls and its sequel.

Perhaps this way if it fails, they can say: “Hey, we tried something new!” And because of the ‘MMO’ monicker, they get away with that excuse.

Thoughts?