Crysis 3 – Open Fields gameplay

Nov 16, 2012

Electronic Arts Inc. and developer Crytek GmbH, today announced that fans who pre-order Crysis 3 will receive a digital download copy of the original Crysis game for Xbox 360,  PlayStation3 or PC*. Lauded by GameSpot as “One of the greatest shooters ever made” and universally hailed upon its release for breaking new ground with jaw-dropping visuals, industry leading technology and sandbox gameplay, Crysis thrusts players into the middle of a global conflict between the U.S. and North Korea over a mysterious artifact that turns out to be extraterrestrial in nature. In Crysis, players are outfitted with the series signature Nanosuit and an arsenal of fully customisable weapons that provide a wide array of options not only for the games story missions but also every single objective and individual encounter. In addition, those that pre-order Crysis 3 will receive the Crysis 3 Hunter Edition, giving fans a head start in multiplayer with immediate access to the powerful new Predator bow and the Hunter Nanosuit module and more**.

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Sword of the Stars II Expanded into New Enhanced Edition

Nov 16, 2012

A year ago, “Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter” was released and while full of potential, didn’t quite meet expectations, including those set by the developer and publisher. Since its release, the main focus from publisher and developer has been to serve all of those that purchased and believed in “Sword of the Stars II”. Paradox Interactive has financed and distributed updates, giving Kerberos Studios the opportunity to continue patching the game to get it into a state where everyone can be proud of the product.

Now, a year later, Paradox Interactive and Kerberos Studios are finally happy to declare the game in good condition and are celebrating by revealing a brand new expansion “End of Flesh”, alongside new content and improvements in Sword of the Stars II: Enhanced Edition.

As a token of appreciation and “thank you” for their patience, Paradox Interactive will arrange for existing “Sword of the Stars II” owners to receive “End of Flesh” for free on release. Sword of the Stars II: Enhanced Edition is scheduled to release on November 30th.

The “End of Flesh” expansion to “Sword of the Stars II” introduces players to the Loa, a shape shifting artificial intelligence that can settle some of the most foreboding of landscapes. A former slave race, they now have freedom and an incentive to use their powerful and unique vessels to teach their old masters a lesson.

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Craft Your Own LEGO Ships from Sine Mora

Nov 16, 2012

Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture have put together all-inclusive how-to guides for creating astonishing fighter ships from the Sine Mora universe with LEGO® bricks. The carefully built fighters and their respective guides can be downloaded here: www.digitalreality.eu/media/sinemora/SineMoraShips.zip.

Bringing the Merenstein VI and BS4-VR Soprano to life via LEGO, Sine Mora was released on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft earlier this year with an exceptional critical response garnering a score of 5/5 from Saving Content 4.5/5 from Joystiq, 8/10 from EDGE, and 9/10 at IGN. Sine Mora is set to release soon on PlayStation Network.

The beauty of the Merenstein VI is its adorned traditional black and red Eternal War colors, along with a golden rose decal on its wing. The BS4-VR Soprano had a limited production run with only 210 ships, making it one of the most expensive fighters ever built on Seol, including 10 special editions exclusively created for the Imperial Intelligence.

For more information about Sine Mora, please visit the official Website: www.sinemoragame.com, the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sinemoragame, or follow us on Twitter:www.twitter.com/sine_mora.

Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

“PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Hitman: Absolution – Launch Trailer

Nov 16, 2012

IO Interactive A/S, a Square Enix studio, presents the launch trailer for HITMAN: ABSOLUTION. Powered by IO INTERACTIVE’S new proprietary GLACIER 2™ technology, HITMAN: ABSOLUTION delivers a cinematic experience in a living breathing world, where player choice is paramount.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Launches Free-to-Play Option Today

Nov 15, 2012

BioWare, a studio of Electronic Arts and LucasArts announced today that the new, Free-to-Play option for the critically-acclaimed, massively multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic is now live. Players can experience the complete storylines of all eight, iconic Star Wars™ classes, all the way to level 50 for free. This new option complements the existing subscription offering, providing players with maximum flexibility in how they choose to experience Star Wars: The Old Republic.

“We want to give our players the freedom to enjoy Star Wars: The Old Republic when and how they want,” said Matthew Bromberg, General Manager of BioWare Austin. “There has never been a better time to start playing with us.”

Also today, BioWare released Game Update 1.5: HK-51 Activated, which adds new areas to explore, a new Companion character and more, including:

• Get ready for an action-packed adventure to earn control of one of the galaxy’s most deadly Assassins, HK-51. Submerged beneath the icy surface of Belsavis lies a derelict ship and if you are brave enough to venture through the wreckage, you will embark on a mission that ultimately rewards you with a powerful new, yet familiar, ally: the ruthless Assassin Droid, HK-51.
• Explore Section X, a previously untouched area of the prison world of Belsavis. The Dread Masters’ servants are searching for a powerful and ancient weapon. Fly to Section X and secure the target of their search to be richly rewarded.
• Travel to Denova to take on Operation: Explosive Conflict – now with a Nightmare Mode! Teams who complete in this new mode can earn the final pieces of the Dread Guard gear set and a brand new mount that will be sure to cause tank envy!

Arnold Palmer is the Cover Athelete for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14

Nov 15, 2012

In a historic celebration of the world of golf, Arnold Palmer, “the King,” makes his first appearance alongside Tiger Woods on the cover of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14. Palmer’s professional career spanned five decades and the box art image is taken from his most prolific years during the 1960’s. Among his many accomplishments, he recorded 92 professional victories during his career with 62 occurring on the PGA TOUR. Included in the total are seven major championships including four Masters, one U.S. Open and two Open Championships. Palmer also has a history with the video game franchise as he was included in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 05 and 06.

Woods has a rich history with the golf icon as he has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational seven times, most recently in 2012 and he has 74 PGA TOUR career wins, second on the all-time list.

Joining legendary golfers, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, as playable characters are a quartet of young rising stars from the PGA TOUR and LPGA. Making their debut in the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR franchise, Keegan Bradley, Bud Cauley, Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson will round out a roster of more than 25 professional golfers set to tee off in the upcoming title.

Bradley has won three PGA TOUR events, most notably the 2011 PGA Championship and is one of only three golfers to win in his major debut. He was also named the 2011 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year and was a member of the 2012 US Ryder Cup team.

Cauley just completed his second professional season and is considered one of the up-and-coming American golfers on the PGA TOUR. The former University of Alabama golfer was a member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team and had six top-10 finishes this season.

The LPGA’s #1 ranked American golfer, and recently named Player of the Year, Lewis, has five professional career wins including a major as her first official professional victory, came at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship. With four LPGA victories this season, 2012 has been a breakout season for Lewis.

In 2011, Thompson won her first LPGA tournament at the Navistar LPGA Classic at the age of 16.  She was also the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open as a 12-year old.

EA SPORTS will also be revealing a unique Europe version of the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14 box art coming soon.

Primal Carnage getting Free DLC with New Modes, Maps, and Classes

Nov 14, 2012

Recently, I reviewed Primal Carnage and enjoyed the fantastic combat, gorgeous graphics, and awesome concept of human vs dinosaurs. What I didn’t like were the lack of maps, modes, and a few other issues. Lukewarm Media heard mine and other complaints and have just about fixed them. Read on with what they have to say:

While tens of thousands of gamers around the world are already enjoying the Human vs. Dinosaur frag-fest known as Primal Carnage, the cry for more content has not gone unnoticed. Answering the call, Reverb Publishing and Lukewarm Media are pleased to announce that Primal Carnage will be getting a slew of new content, the first of which is an all-new objective-based mode code named “Get to the Chopper” and a brand-new mode specific map. The first of many planned game updates, this 100 percent FREE content will introduce new modes and maps when it rears its head later this month.

In addition to all planned free game updates, Primal Carnage will periodically be releasing alternative character skin packs. The first will also arrive later this month in the form of five new skins, one for each of the playable Dinosaur classes.

“Our goal with Primal Carnage was to make the best dinosaur video game to date, and according to the reviews, we’ve done just that – but we are FAR from done,” said Ashton Anderson, lead designer and founder of Lukewarm Media. “Gamers are hungry for more content and today we reveal not only these character skin updates, but also ‘Get to the Chopper’, the first of several additional game modes that will be offered absolutely free to our players. Primal Carnage and its community are looking forward to solidifying our foothold as a stellar multiplayer experience unlike anything else on the market.”

“Get to the Chopper” will be the first mode added to Primal Carnage, the premise of which is deceptively simple. The Human team must work together to make its way along a linear path to the chopper waiting for them at the other end. However, this is Primal Carnage so as always there is one rather large obstacle – Dinosaurs. The Dinosaur team must also work together to pick off the Human team one by one and prevent it from reaching the chopper extraction point. Who will emerge victorious in the tug of war between man and beast?

[box_light]Primal Carnage is available now at Primal Carnage.com, Steam, GameStop, GamersGate, and Rain DG and is the highest-reviewed dinosaur title of all time. Dinosaurs take center stage in this class-based, online multiplayer shooter featuring fast-paced combat between a team of humans brave enough to stand toe-to-toe with hordes of some of the most vicious beasts ever to walk the face of the earth. Players can choose to take on both sides of the battle as either the Human class utilizing an arsenal of distinct and unique weaponry or inhabit the body of one of these menacing and powerful Dinosaurs intent on leaving a trail of blood and destruction in their wake.[/box_light]

The Walking Dead – Episode Five “No Time Left” Concludes Next Week in Season Finale

Nov 14, 2012

Today, Telltale Games announced that the highly-anticipated SEASON FINALE ofThe Walking Dead titled ‘Episode Five -No Time Left,’ will be launching digitally next week on consoles, PC/MAC, and iOS.  This is the fifth and final episode in the critically-acclaimed game season from Telltale Games based on Robert Kirkman’s award-winning comic book series, The Walking Dead. 

The Walking Dead: Episode Five – No Time Left will be launching on PlayStation Network in North America on Tuesday November 20th and Wednesday November 21st on PlayStation Network (EU), Xbox LIVE Marketplace, PC and Mac via the Telltale Online Store and digital distribution partners such as Steam, and also for compatible iOS devices as the final piece of downloadable content from within the ‘Walking Dead: The Game’ app, available on the App Store.

Once again, we thank you for travelling along with us all the way from Macon, and now to the end of the tracks into the deadly streets of Savannah, GA.  You’ve come this far, and with humanity pushed to the edge of extinction, we ask you one question… Are you truly ready to put everything on the line… #ForClementine?

FORGE Releases on December 4th for $19.99 (includes Second Copy for FREE)

Nov 14, 2012

Dark Vale Games, an independent video game developer based in Southern California, will release FORGE, a multiplayer-only PC game set in a high-action fantasy world, on December 4 for $19.99 via digital distribution.  As an added bonus, anyone who purchases the game for $19.99 will receive a second copy of FORGE free-of-charge to bring another competitor into the fold.

On December 4, FORGE will be available as a PC download through several online retailers, including through Valve’s Steam service, Amazon.com and GamersGate, as well as directly from Dark Vale Games’ web site at www.PlayForgeWar.com.

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Grand Theft Auto V: Trailer #2

Nov 14, 2012

It’s here!

Sleeping Dogs content coming this Holiday Season

Nov 13, 2012

This holiday season Sleeping Dogs offers a collection of gameplay add-ons, custom character packs and martial arts missions as six months of additional content continues.

Starting November 14th, Sleeping Dogs players will be able to download the Dragon Master Pack, a collection of weapons, character upgrades, martial arts moves and missions only previously available individually at pre-order.

Packs will be available to download throughout the Holiday Season from Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network and Steam. More information including on-sale dates and pricing will be made available at www.sleepingdogs.net.

Dragon Master Pack

Featuring five pre-order packs in one, the huge Dragon Master Pack is the ultimate collection of killer content for Sleeping Dogs. Each of the below packs are included, also available to purchase separately:

• Triad Enforcer Pack: It’s a high-speed shoot-out in Triad Highway; armed with a high-capacity machine gun, fight a tide of Triads… after your head. Death by 1,000 Cuts puts you in a brutal fight club taking on the Triads with a razor-sharp golden cleaver. Wear the Triad Enforcer outfit for added Face and more punishing damage.

• Police Protection Pack: Unlock the exclusive High Speed police mission featuring the SWAT outfit, SWAT Police Cruiser car and SWAT Assault Rifle.

• Martial Arts Pack: Unlock the Shaolin Warrior outfit (with increased melee damage), the Shaolin Showdown mission and Wing Chun dummy decoration for your safe house.

• GSP Pack: Dress like Mixed Martial Arts champion Georges “Rush” St-Pierre with this collection of shorts, t-shirts and bandana, and devastate your enemies with GSP’s signature flying punch. Also adds increased grappling and throwing damage.

• Deep Undercover Pack: Unlock the Plain Clothes Detective outfit (with a reduced heat penalty), the Undercover Police Ghost Car and a CB Radio for your safe house.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion’s Big 1.1 Update

Nov 13, 2012

Here is the fix list, straight from Stardock…

[ Gameplay ]

• New Maps! We’ve added dozens of new maps, including competitive multiplayer variants which normalize resources, militia and other factors (thanks to Pbhead and GoaFan77 for these). New maps include:

o   The Art of War Competitive

o   Battle Lines / Battle Lines Competitive

o   Blitz / Blitz Competitive

o   Close Encounters Competitive

o   Crystal Storm / Crystal Storm Competitive

o   Double Cross Competitive

o   Empires at War

o   Foreign Invasion Competitive

o   Fractured Lands / Fractured Lands Competitive

o   Gemini / Gemini Competitive

o   Hostile Orbits / Hostile Orbits Competitive

o   Kabel Competitive

o   Maelstrom Competitive

o   Melting Point Competitive

o   New Dawn / New Dawn Competitive

o   Pandemonium Competitive

o   Quick Strike Competitive

o   Random – Huge Multi-Star Competitive

o   Random – Huge Ring Competitive

o   Random – Huge Single-Star Competitive

o   Random – Large Multi-Star Competitive

o   Random – Large Single-Star Competitive

o   Random – Medium Competitive

o   Random – Mini / Random – Mini Competitive

o   Random – Small Competitive

o   Random – Vast / Random – Vast Competitive

o   Razor’s Edge Competitive

o   Storm Front Competitive

o   Tempest Competitive

o   The Void

o   Triple Entente Competitive

o   Twin Empires Competitive

o   Typhoon Competitive

o   Unstable Alliance Competitive

o   Whirlwind Competitive

• All corvettes are now unaffected by most harmful Titan abilitiesExceptions are Explosive Shot, which will still knockback corvettes in the AoE, and The Maw, which will still potentially draw in corvettes in the AoE (but won’t specifically target them).
• Ships should no longer try to use abilities on invulnerable targets.
• Corvettes will no longer be explicitly targeted by Cleansing Brilliance or Reverie abilities (but may still be affected by them).
• Corvettes are no longer affected by Magnetic Clouds.
• Adjusted relationship bonuses per Pact with allies to grant a 0.2 Diplomatic Actions bonus per unique Pact (to a maximum of 2.4).
• Adjusted relationship penalties per Pact with enemies to grant a -0.5 Diplomatic Actions penalty per unique Pact (to a maximum of -6.0).

TEC Loyalists

• Titan: Can now cast Group Shield on itself.
•  Titan: Increased started HP from 5400 to 5500; increased starting Armor from 11 to 12.

TEC Rebels

• Titan: AutoCannon damage increased from 110.5 to 121.52; Missile damage increased from 127.5 to 140.25.

Advent (General)

• Deliverance Engine Balance Changes:
• Cannonshell speed increased from 12000 to 36000 (moving at the speed of thought!).
• Culture Spread effect increased from 5 to 15.
• The 25% damage buff to Advent player owned ships will now affect incoming ships as well as those already in the gravity well when the shot hits.
• Deliverance Engine shots will now reduce an enemy planet’s Allegiance by 10% (stacks 3 times).

Advent Loyalists

• Global Unity now adds a 5% bonus to max. planet allegiance in addition to its other effects.

Advent Rebels

• Wail of the Sacrificed has been changed to affect all adjacent planets, ships and structures regardless of ownership.
• Titan: Chastic Burst antimatter cost increased from 70 to 80; cooldown increased from 20 to 30.
• Titan: Side Beam damage reduced from 130 to 117.
• Fixed Expulsion tech to properly give its 20% culture spread bonus.

Vasari Loyalists

• Titan: The Maw will no longer explicitly target corvettes (though they may still be affected if caught in the ability AoE).
• Titan: Increased the cooldown on The Maw from 175 to 210.
• Titan: Starting HP increased from 4802 to 5042; HP per level decreased from 459 to 436; starting Shields increased from 2567 to 2696; Shields per level decreased from 533 to 507.
• Titan: HP per level increased from 405 to 445; Shields per level increased from 529 to 582; Armor per level increased from 0.58 to 0.64.

Vasari Rebels

• Rebel Starbases will now suffer from additional debuffs after a phase jump: Passive shield regeneration is decreased by 50%, Armor is reduced by 1.5 and weapon damage received is increased by 25%. Negative effects after phase jumping a Starbase now stack 3 times; debuff duration of all effects increased to 600 seconds from 60.
• Armor Restoration technology bonus reduced from +25% HP / +5 Armor to +15% HP / +3 Armor.

Pirates

• Ships spawned from bounty raids made less random and weaker earlier in the game.
• Pirate raids spawned via Diplomatic mission costs adjusted for revised raid levels above (i.e., much cheaper).

[ Misc. ]

• Fixed reported null pointer crash related to buff spawning (thanks ezeltje299).
• Fixed reported null check on first spawner buffs (thanks ateague1987).
• Fixed broken Pirate Exterminator Steam Achievement.
• Fixed broken Outstanding Resume Steam Achievement.
• Steam Cloud Saves re-enabled and should now work as intended in multiplayer games.
• Checksum detection added on multiplayer saves to validate that saves aren’t corrupted.
• Fixed Pact related crash that would occur if a player had more than six unique Pacts established.
• Fixed null pointer crash related to Wail of the Sacrificed.

[ Modding ]

• Added new icons to Galaxy Forge for competitive map types.

The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles Coming to Windows 8

Nov 13, 2012

Twisted Pixel Games proudly presents the future of interactive entertainment: The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles. Starring Wiley Wiggins (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life) as Future Buddy and Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger, Tromeo and Juliet) as Doc Lloyd, this new experience defies simple 20th century categorizations of “game” or “film.” Video games don’t have real horses or real big fires. Films don’t allow viewers to choose who lives or dies. The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles has all those things, and a lot more.

The carefully crafted story of intrigue takes players on an adventure to find the nefarious Wavy Tube Man Jr., who has stolen a time machine to go to the past and prevent his father’s death. Take control of destiny using mouse or touch-based targeting, shooting, and more against quick-drawing cowboys and heavily armed future warriors, chasing the villain through time as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

And there’s more: Harness the new chapter select feature to go directly to your favorite scenes with no waiting. Explore the behind the scenes special features to discover the secrets of how epic Hollywood productions are made. Immerse yourself in the most lifelike visuals available on any platform, made possible by Twisted Pixel’s advanced proprietary “graphiz” technology. No longer hindered by the limitations of polygons or math, the characters and worlds of wonder come to life before your very eyes.

Coming soon to the Windows Store for Windows 8 PCs and RT tablets at the stunningly low price of $1.49, The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles is less than 1/30th the price of old media like Halo 4 or the Twilight saga. Come to the future of interactive entertainment.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Season Pass Now Includes “Nuketown Zombies” Bonus Map

Nov 12, 2012

In response to the overwhelming amount of enthusiasm demonstrated by the Call of Duty community over Treyarch’s Zombies mode, we’re happy to announce that – in addition to including it in the Call of Duty: Black Ops II Collector’s Editions – the Nuketown Zombies map will be made available as a piece of bonus content for the Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Season Pass in December.

 Fans who purchase the Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Season Pass not only get all four epic DLC Map Packs** for the discounted suggested retail price of $49.99*, but they also get access to the Nuketown Zombies bonus map – available for Xbox 360 first in December with other platforms to follow, plus an exclusive in-game calling card.

For those picking up the CE version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the Nuketown Zombies map will be available exclusively starting tomorrow, before it becomes available for Season Pass holders in December.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is merely hours away, so we can’t wait for you to pick up and start playing, and look forward to seeing you online.

Tomb Raider appropriately has a Collector’s Edition

Nov 12, 2012

SQUARE ENIX today announced the TOMB RAIDER Collector’s Edition to be made available in limited quantities alongside the game’s release on March 5, 2013.

Designed to bring fans closer to Lara Croft’s journey within the game, the North American TOMB RAIDER Collector’s Edition features premium packaging–a replica survival tin recovered from the ill-fated expedition ship, “Endurance”–and the following:

• Play Arts -KAI- Lara Croft figurine – Lara Croft has been beautifully recreated as an 8-inch Play Arts -KAI- action figure. The figure comes with an alternate set of three hands, bow and arrow, shotgun, handgun, and an ice axe.
• Double-sided island map and poster – Discover Key Landmarks from the mysterious island of Yamatai, where Lara Croft and her fellow castaways were marooned after the Endurance shipwreck, in this 15” x 19” poster. On the reverse is a poster-size image of the box art that epitomizes Lara’s origin story.
• Lithographic print – An exclusive 5” x 7” Lara Croft heavy-stock lithograph print with matte frame designed by Crystal Dynamic’s Brian Horton, senior art director, and Brenoch Adams, concept artist.
• Experience Shields –Three iron-on badges based on the game’s experience icons: “Animal Instincts,” the “Climbing Axe” and “Fire Arrow.”
• TOMB RAIDER Original Soundtrack ‘Survivalist Cut’- A collection of 10 tracks with over 60 minutes of music from the game.
• Weapons Pack Downloadable Content – includes a variety of weapons to help Lara survive against the island’s inhabitants.

The TOMB RAIDER Collector’s Edition will be available in limited quantities for $99.99 at participating retailers. For more information about the Collector’s Edition along with regular updates on all of our pre-order and promotional offers, visit the pre-order hub at www.tombraider.com.