Splatterhouse Terror Mask Unboxing July 12, 2011
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GameStop sent Maniac a gift for all the bad stuff he’s said about them. Actually he got it by cashing in GameStop Rewards points he earned from buying so many Collector’s Editions of games this year. This is availble for redemption on the site, and it looked to be the nicest thing offered for the point value, so it was ordered.
Maniac unboxes the Splatterhouse mask stand made as a promotional display for GameStops across the country. Now it looks like GameStop is giving them away to Power Up Rewards members who have the points to redeem it. They also offer a lot of other stuff on the site. It arrived one week after ordering it and came packaged in what you see before you (they just slapped a shipping label on it).
This thing is a VERY high quality collector’s piece, take a look for yourselves!
Why Are So Many Games Coming Out This Fall? July 12, 2011
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Statistically there are two times of the year major games get released, and trust me I know this from plenty of experience. New games will either come out just before Christmas (usually the day after Thanksgiving is the cut off point) or March. Now I bet you can understand why games would come out in advance of the Christmas season, but why is March so popular? Because that’s the time set aside for the games that miss Christmas. As for the rest of the year, the release of major games can be quite sparse regardless of platform.
Recently, this has hurt even the biggest of publishers, and caused them to rethink the way they released games. In 2008, both the PS3 and Xbox 360 were preparing to release their major exclusives for the Christmas season, Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2. This was also the year which saw the release of the (then) widely popular Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2 games. With all these games getting expensive Collector’s Edition releases, gamer wallets just dried up! When EA released games from new franchises that year at the same time these major sequels were coming out, sales were hurt badly. The poster child game for this could probably be Mirror’s Edge, which was a fun game which reviewed well and just didn’t get the sales EA was expecting due to the heavy competition that season. EA even said they learned their lesson and would endeavor to spread out their release schedules better, and for the past two years, things have been calm. But that is about to change.
I was kind of hoping that there was going to be an even spread of game releases this summer, but the delay of RAGE, which was going to be coming in August, put the end to that. Now from the looks of it, all of the major game releases for the rest of the year are going to be coming in September, October and November, with October looking like it will probably be the most expensive gaming month in the history of this industry with games like Batman: Arkham City, The Darkness II, and RAGE. November’s looking pretty full as well with releases like Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Skyrim, and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Who can afford all this?
Heck, two of Sony’s major platform exclusives, Resistance 3 and Uncharted 3, are launching in that same period, and Uncharted 3 has already announced a $100US Collector’s Edition. By launching them at around the same time, those games are going to be competing with each other! Why would Sony do that?
As Mr. Spock would say, “Logic dictates to have a continual release stream of major game releases of established properties.” To launch them all together at the same time, especially when you are an optional commodity in a time when money is tight all around, is insanity!
Bungie Leaves Halo to Microsoft July 10, 2011
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After twelve years and five games over two console generations, Bungie has started the transition process to leave the Halo franchise that they created behind to focus on new projects. This is a major changing of the guard, as all of the major Halo online stat servers have been hosted on Bungie’s official website for the past seven years. Those servers are going to be moving to Microsoft, where they will be maintained by a separate team.
As a PC user, I think a lot of people’s first exposure to Halo came when this video came out, back when Halo was expected to launch on the PC.
This video is likely what made Microsoft decide to buy the company and have Bungie retool the game to run on their then unannounced first gaming console, the Xbox.
Make no mistake about it, the launch of Halo defined the Xbox and made a new console by a new manufacturer hold its own against the power of Sony better than Nintendo could in the last console generation.
When Xbox Live launched, Halo 2 defined online play for that platform and was widely successful. In fact, I still remember Halo 2’s launch quite fondly.
And for those of you who might be interested, I consider Halo 2’s Limited Collector’s Edition the definition of a REQUIRED CE purchase.
But Bungie wouldn’t be staying as a part of Microsoft’s main studios forever. After finishing Halo 2, while working on their first unannounced Xbox 360 exclusive game, Bungie got a whole new building to develop in.
I just want to know where all those belts came from. Of course that game they couldn’t show us in that video of course turned out to be the highly rated Halo 3.
With the release of Halo 3 many felt the Halo series had come to a wrap. It ended on a cliffhanger but the main story was complete. Having made them millions upon millions of dollars, Microsoft gave Bungie back their independence and the ability to develop whatever they’d like, but they would be keeping Halo. It could’ve easily ended there, but Bungie had some more surprises up their sleeves and Halo 3 ODST was coming.
But this wouldn’t be their final Halo game. As announced in E3 2009 right after the stage demo of Halo 3 ODST, Bungie’s final Halo game would bring the series full circle back to the beginning, set back before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, their final Halo game would be Halo Reach.
Bungie hasn’t posted up their final ViDoc yet, but for Bungie Day two years ago, they released this video showing the evolution of Halo over the years, and since they are wrapping up Halo, I thought it was quite fitting to show here.
Take care, Bungie, and good luck in all your future endeavors.
Collector’s Editions Reviews a Possibility July 9, 2011
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Right after I posted up my inFamous 2 Hero Edition unboxing video I was asked by several people on YouTube that since I buy enough of these Collector’s Editions anyway, I should do site reviews of them so people can know if they are worth buying, espessially given the excessive premium so many of them have for the past three years.
I have avoided doing reviews on this site since I figured if I dared do a game review somebody would disagree with it and it would be like throwing gasoline on a fire. However, since Collector’s Editions are a premium purchase on top of a game, I don’t have a problem with doing a review of them.
If I were to do a CE review, it would be part of a simple system. There’s just no point on throwing a 100% or five point scale at something like this, people just simply want to know if the package is worth paying the extra premium over the game itself, and THAT is what I will base my reviews on.
In that case, a three point rating system would work best, and since I’m the one doing it, I’m going to name what the ratings will be, and tell you all what each rating would merit.
- REQUIRED – The highest honor I can give a Collector’s Edition. There is some VERY good content in this package for the price. This could range from the physical content being fantastic and very in depth unique content. A video documentary included could be fantastic. An art book could be very well done. The DLC could add a lot more value to the game. Also, the choice of any included items will be checked for how good their quality is. Box will also be taken into effect. All these are possiblities for what could get this rating, and just be sure since I’m buying these things out of my own pocket (unlike what some unpaid intern who is likely writing a review on a major site) price will be taken into effect. I have not decided if the game will have to be good to get this title, or if I should break it down between having a GAME GOOD TOO or GAME NOT GOOD suffix added to the end.
- FANBOYS ONLY – The content in this kind of CE can only be appreciated by either die hard fans of the series or game itself and not required for everyone of every walk of life to purchase. This can mean that a lot of the content, while nice, mostly comprise of fluff pieces that don’t live up to merit the price premium over the game itself. It would be worth the value if you are a die hard fan of the game, the game series, or if you are fortunate enough to find copies of the CE at a reduced price new at your local game store. The fact that the game is good or bad is not factored into this decision, and usually the people who would buy this kind of CE will have already purchased it before the review has even been posted. They certainly will enjoy it, but the people who haven’t aren’t losing out.
- DON’T BOTHER – The CE is a complete waste of money and adds no actual value to the game itself. The amount of content isn’t very good and not worth the price premium over the game itself. If you bought it at full price, I feel very sorry for you. The quality of the game itself is not factored into this decision, meaning that there’s no way it is in any danger of turning the CE into a REQUIRED purchase, even if it is bundled with (hypothetically) the Greatest Game Ever.
So that would be my criteria for rating a Collector’s Edition. Now the problem with doing it like this would be I’d need some extra time to do the unboxing and play the game before a rating can be issued. I would be more than happy however over the next week to list off some Collector’s Editions I have purchased this year (and if you’d like, earlier years) and give my ratings for them and why.
Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club Members Selecting DLC Platform July 9, 2011
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Gearbox Software has sent out a mass email some time ago to the Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club members. This group includes people who preordered the game at GameStop or bought the Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition.
First Access Club members were originally given the first access to Duke Nukem Forever news, and exclusive access (for a time) of the Duke Nukem Forever demo before the game was released. Before the demo came out, an email was sent out to all members requesting that they update their member status to reflect what their platform of choice was so they could sent a proper download code for the demo when it was released.
Now they’re doing it again, but this time its for the first Duke Nukem Forever DLC. All First Acccess Club members are being encouaged to sign in at the official website and update what their platform of choice is (just in case they decided to buy the game for a different platform they played the demo on) up until July 11th. No word what’s going to happen after July 11th, if that means the DLC is coming out that day, or what will happen to FAC members who don’t select a platform (in the case of the demo, anyone who didn’t select a platform defaulted to getting the PC version).
This hopefully means that the first DLC is coming soon.
Bioshock Infinite E3 2011 Gameplay Premere July 8, 2011
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Well, Ken Levine made good on his promise and has released the entire Bioshock Infinite E3 demo, all fifteen minutes of it, to the web. In it, we get to see the whole new environment, and get introduced very quickly to the new main characters and supporting characters.
So, what the heck did we just see? This is not Rapture, but we already knew that was going to happen. I’ll let Ken Levine set the stage.
You can also watch the entire episode this footage premered on along with interviews with Ken Levine on GTTV.com.
Bioshock Infinite is coming to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Uncharted 3 Beta Gameplay July 7, 2011
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I’ve been trying for almost a week to get this footage up, but it seems like now is the best time to do it. diskreader117 and I play the Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception multiplayer beta, which I had access to on launch, and got some footage of it to show off here for those of you who are interested.
There are going to be some perks to playing in the Uncharted 3 Beta. Just downloading it you are promised a special avatar picture, for playing the levels over five times a piece will net you some special stickers, and there’s a reward for making it to rank 25.
The Uncharted 3 Beta is currently free to download right now and doesn’t require a Playstation Plus subscription (or a redeemable code). If you have access to the Playstation Store right now, give it a download and enjoy it.
Saints Row The Third E3 2011 Gameplay Demonstration July 3, 2011
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If there was one game that was being advertised at full force at this years E3, it would probably be Saints Row the Third. They were nice enough to save me a few dollars in parking and give my rental car a nice wash, but unfortunatly I was not able to get a gameplay video of what they were showing at this years E3. Fortunatly, the game’s developers at Volition and THQ have seen fit to upload their gameplay presentation, with full commentary, to the web for all to see, and it looks like a lot of fun.
Saints Row the Third is coming November, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Bioshock Infinite Gameplay Teaser July 2, 2011
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Irrational Games and Ken Levine have listened to the people who cried out to see Bioshock Infinite’s E3 presentation (which is something that I haven’t even seen, I didn’t even see a Bioshock theater and I was at the 2K Booth several times!)
Right now, you’ll have to make do with the first two minutes of the video with an introduction by Ken Levine. They promise that the rest of the presentation will be shown uncut on GameTrailers TV (which airs on Thursday at 1AM on Spike TV channel) and the rest of the video will be put online after it airs.
Arkham City Gameplay Video July 2, 2011
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The guys at Rocksteady have seen fit to include a 12 minute gameplay video of Batman: Arkham City. In it, you get a sense of what the game will play like, and you get to see a playble segment of the Catwoman in action.
Now I must stress that this video is NOT what I saw previewed at E3 last month. In fact if memory serves I remember this scene has been shown to the press exclusively some time ago, as I have read previews which covered this part of the game. The only difference being that the previews I read did not include Catwoman’s playable section which is at the beginning of the video. Enjoy.
Batman: Arkham City is coming October, 2011 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
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