Bungie App Updated August 16, 2011
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Bungie has updated their iOS Application, which allows anyone who downloads it to track their statistics in Halo Reach, as well as gives away special in-game goodies from Bungie.
Bungie has announced that version 1.1 of the app has been released to iTunes, which adds in Private Messaging and allows you to access to your Xbox Live Friends Status, two features that will enhance the functionality of the program pretty well.
Also, you Android users will be happy to know that the app has just been announced for the Android, so you can expect to get some love from Bungie too.
The Bungie App is free and can be downloaded through iTunes Store. An Android version is coming.
Borderlands 2 Announced August 16, 2011
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The sequel to Gearbox Software’s highly popular sleeper hit of 2010 has been announced!
Borderlands took gameplay mechanics from other games that came before it, and put it’s own spin on those, with an art style all its own. It’s popularity increased tenfold when the Game of the Year Edition of the game was released, which bundled together the four DLC packs of the game along with access to the Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club at a reduced price.
The teaser trailer for the game doesn’t show much, but Gearbox has said they plan to do away with the random gun pickups of the original, and instead will have guns with set statistics from various manufacteres in the sequel.
Borderlands 2 is coming in 2010.
Mr. Freeze is Coming to Batman: Arkham City August 16, 2011
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Add another to the list of Batman’s rogue’s gallery! Dr. Victor Fries is coming to Arkham City in the guise of his alter ego, Mr. Freeze!
The appearance they’re going for him this time around is different than any design I’ve seen for Mr. Freeze in the past. Mr. Freeze has appeared in a few Batman video games in the past. He appeared in Batman: Vengeance (multiplatform), voiced by his original voice actor from Batman: The Animated Series. He also appeared in Batman: Dark Tomorrow (PS2 and GameCube), which is only worth playing for the cutscenes.
His suit almost has the appearance of a walking tank, instead of life support armor, as he normally wears. This is not unheard of, if he intended to go into battle with Batman, he would wear something like this. I also really like how he can turn on and off the infared light in his goggles, making him seem more human when he’s not ready to fight, and lose that humanity when he is ready to fight.
Batman: Arkham City is coming October 4th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Final RAGE Behind the Scenes Video Posted August 15, 2011
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The sixth and final episode of RAGE Behind the Scenes has been posted up on Bethesda’s YouTube Channel. This episode focuses specifially on the sound aspects of the game. Interesting tidbits in the documentary include the notion that sound can be just as important to good gameplay as visuals are.
They also say why John Goodman was chosen as a voice actor in the game, I knew he had done voice roles in the past (He played the killer robotic Santa Claus in Futurama) but actually he was chosen because his in-game appearance matched closely with his character appearance in a popular film he did.
Just be aware some very minor story elements early on in the game get teased.
RAGE is coming for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 October 4th, 2011.
Resistance 3 Multiplayer Beta Test Schedule August 14, 2011
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Resistance 3 has started its multiple phase multiplayer beta test. The third entry in one of the first exclusive launch properties for the Playstation 3, Resistance: Fall of Man has been a killer app for the platform, and it’s multiplayer component has been widely successful in getting people to sign up for the Playstation Network as it was being launched.
Anyone who currently has a copy of SOCOM4 will be able to download and play it as we speak, but forutnatly, they will not be the only people granted access to the beta test.
Starting August 15th (tomorrow) and going to August 19th, people who pre-ordered through Amazon.com will be granted access to the beta test. Access codes should be sent out in e-mail to anyone who ordered the game.
Between August 22nd through August 26th, Playstation Plus subscribers will be granted access to the beta test. You should be granted access to download it through the Playstation Store.
Finally, the beta test will be opened to the entire Playstation Network userbase between August 29th and September 4th.
Resistance 3 will launch September 6th, 2011 exclusive to the Playstation 3.
The Trenches Launches August 13, 2011
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Back in the early days of the internet, there actually wasn’t a whole lot to discuss on it. Since the userbase at the time consisted of high end computer users, it turned out many of us shared common interests. Usually that revolved around love for science fiction and video games. In 1998, Scott Kurtz, an artist and writer, broke new ground and created the very first webcomic. His concept, tell the story of a Gaming Magazine and the people in it. And such, PvP was created, but also, so was a whole industry.
Not too long after that, two other guys, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik decided they wanted to create their own comic. One being a writer and the other being the artist, they decided to make their own comic strip and release it online as well. The difference being that this comic would be from the perspective of gamers themselves. As outsiders, they were completely free of any restrictions. They would cover any taboo of the day that the media wouldn’t touch, and for their risk their comic strip Penny-Arcade is still considered the most popular webcomic on the internet.
Well, the rest, as they say, is history. Now the popularity of comic strips posted online rival the long established ones in print media. New strips are posted daily from all over the world, being written and drawn by people of every culture and artistic background.
Now, it seems these three have banded together to create something entirely new. A webcomic, this time focusing on the little guy of the gaming industry, the game tester. So many comic strips will cover video gaming or gamers, but very few cover the actual development of games, and just what the kind of people who make them are like. (Barry Smith, I eagerly await for you to resume your posting schedule your InkTank strips). The Trenches, first announced last year, has finally started its run, with updates promised on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But more than that, they do plan to post up actual stories from anonymous testers, giving a peek into just what the workings of game development is. (I wonder if Michael “RomSteady” Russel is in the pipe?).
Its starting off pretty good, check it out!
RAGE Release Details August 13, 2011
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In the aftermath of Quakecon 2011 some important information about RAGE has been released, particularly about the game’s release details.
The PC version of RAGE will use Steamworks. A lot of people think this is just used as a Digital Rights Management system, but in truth Steamworks offers the players a DRM that enhances functionality opposed to traditional DRM, which takes those rights away. Unlike DRM, Steamworks games by default do not have an installation limit. You will be able to install games on as many systems as you wish for as long as you want. Heck, you can lose your original CD/DVD AND your install key and still be able to install and play the game on any computer with an internet connection. Other Steamworks features that are possible for the game’s release but not confirmed for RAGE include cloud saves which can be shared across computers, in-game achievements, and a multiplayer browser.
New copies of RAGE will also come with unlock codes for sewer transit. Sewer transit is a feature of the game separate from the main plotline. Without a download code, you will not be able to use this functionality, and could possibly have to purchase it through your platform’s marketplace. This is in a similar vein to putting in arbitrary restrictions in copies of the game to prevent used sales. Most of the time they remove access to the multiplayer component of the game and charge extra for people who purchase used copies of the game to regain that access. They said they chose to remove sewer access because it was a feature most people didn’t use in testing, and didn’t take away from the main plotline. Still, this anti-used campaign in general has been a really bad idea across the board and I really wish publishers would stop doing this. If they want to promote buying new copies of games, the best option is to do what Remedy did with Alan Wake and offer free advance download codes for upcoming DLC bundled with all new copies of a game.
RAGE will release for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in October, 2011.
Could the Release of the Playstation Vita Kill Sony’s Memory Stick? August 11, 2011
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With the advent of digital photography, having a memory card you can store all your camera’s data to has become a very common practice. However, there isn’t a definitive standard for memory card designs, and the type of card you will need is usually dictated by what memory card type your camera requires. Because of this, there have been all kinds of different memory card types ranging in different sizes, speeds and capacities, and they are not universally compatible with each other. To deal with this, photo devices and memory card adapters have to include multiple different slots for the different memory card types.
Right now the major three memory card types are CompactFlash (CF), Memory Stick (MS) and SD. If you buy any kind of photo printer you’ll likely find a socket for each of these cards. Stores that allow you to print out your digital photos also will have individual sockets for each memory type. Even the launch version of the Playstation 3 had sockets for each of these cards so you could view your digital photos and videos on your HDTV.
If you have a Sony camera bought within the last few years, chances are definite that you use Memory Stick Pro Duo to take your pictures. By having their own proprietary media type for their devices, Sony has been able to keep the Memory Stick business thriving for them and their third-party manufacturers like SanDisk.
But probably the biggest device that uses the Sony Memory Stick is the Playstation Portable handheld. With the launch version of the device having no internal memory of its own, savegames, downloadable games, demos, music, and videos have to be downloaded to a Memory Stick. With the ability to easily swap these things out, gamers have been able to continuously upgrade the PSP’s storage capacity as more downloadable content is made available to them.
Recently, Sony cameras have been shipping with dual sockets which will take either a Memory Stick or SD memory card. Because SD is used in most cameras, many users have chosen to use SD cards to ensure compatibility with a wider range of devices like Blu-Ray players and the Nintendo Wii. However, since the Playstation Portable still has only one socket that will only accept a Memory Stick, the Playstation Portable has become the major Memory Stick selling device.
However, the Memory Stick may be going the way of the dodo and the MiniDisc. With the Playstation Portable on its way out, the Playstation Vita will be Sony’s major portable games system. When I demoed the Playstation Vita at E3 this year, I was able to get a few technical questions about the device answered. Game saves are going to be stored on the internal flash memory portions of a new proprietary game stick format, and the Vita developers have assured me that the device will have its own internal memory capacity, although they have declined to tell me just how much internal space a Vita will have at launch.
However, what the Vita does not have is a Memory Stick slot. This was a really bad decision. Without Sony’s cameras or handheld devices encouraging sales of new sticks, Sony is basically handing the entire market to the SD card, which is used in a wider array of devices. With Sony’s digital cameras now all coming with dual sockets, and the launch of the Vita likely bringing the retirement of the Sony PSP, there is no killer devices that will encourage the purchase of Memory Sticks.
Likely there will still be a market for a while for legacy devices (the PSP and Sony cameras without dual sockets) but once the PSP gets phased out for the Vita the sales for the Memory Stick is going to just dry up.
Playstation Network Now Pre-Ordering DLC, Why? August 10, 2011
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Sony has started to take pre-orders of online downloadable games through their new Playstation Network PLAY inititaive. Four games, including Bloodrayne: Betrayal and Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition are being offered for prepurchase. Other than the fact the games are discounted to Playstation Plus members or by downloading all four of them you’ll get a free gift, there really is little incentive to preordering a digital game.
The concept of preordering something digital, opposed to retail, is quite different. In this day and age, preordering a physical copy of something actually does make sense. Someone is going to put a pre-order down for a retail item in order to reserve it for themselves. There is a physical limit to the amount of retail games that can be sold. By reserving the game early, you gurantee that you will have your game set aside for you in advance so on release day you can simply pick it up without any hassle. But in the digital world, an infinite amount of copies of something can be sold. There’s no concern all the copies are going to be sold before you get the chance to buy it.
I have talked in the past about this subject. GameStop was offering preorders for the first Halo Reach downloadable Map Pack a few months ago. They were offering Power Up Rewards Members a free avatar goodie as an incentive. While this option for purchasing DLC turned out to be much slower than someone who simply purchased the content through Xbox Live the second it came out, it did provide players who didn’t have access to a Credit Card a chance to pay cash for the content, and gave users a free goodie to boot just for preordering that one map pack.
I can only think of two valid reasons why someone would want to preorder something online. Pre-Orders through STEAM, for as long as the service has existed, has allowed the user the chance to download the game in advance of release. With the content already downloaded, the user could literally have the game the second the game released, which, trust me, when Half-Life 2 released, was a really big deal. If Sony decided to release these games the same way, preordering would be a good idea.
The other valid reason is used by Telltale Games with their episodic game releases. Instead of buying all six episodes of a game series individually, you could buy all of them in one lump sum at a fairly reduced price, and be e-mailed whenever the new episodes came out, so you could download them immediatly upon release. Now, Sony isn’t going the episodic route with these games, you can only buy them individually, and you’re only getting a discount if you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber, so this won’t be an option.
My guess is that anyone who preorders any of these games will have them unlocked in their download queue upon release, so you can download and install them the second its released. This is what Sony did for subscribers to the Playstation Qore Magazine before it became a Playstation Plus incentive. Really, if they do it like that, you’d have the same experience buying it the second it comes out.
Playstation 3 Firmware 3.70 Released August 10, 2011
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A required firmware update has hit the PSN this week. Not much extra has been added unless you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber, but they did add support for 3D photo display on 3DTVs.
If you are a Playstation Plus subscriber, you’ll be able to auto sync your trophies and sync your gamesaves online so they can be used on multiple systems.
Am I the only person who thinks the playstation plus service is a waste? Trophy AutoSync and cloud gamesaves are two features that should’ve been added to all PS3 owners. Portal 2 for PS3 supports cloud saves (and it works just fine), and the Xbox 360 has no need to sync achievements.
If Sony wants the Playstation Plus service to work, they have to offer new services their competition doesn’t already offer for free. Autosyncing of Trophies alone should’ve been added when the feature was released two years ago! When Portal 2 came out, Cloud saving was a feature that Sony could hold over Microsoft to peg the PS3 version of Portal 2 as the superior version of the game! This was pegged as a discount service for DLC and downloadable games. Keep it as that.
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