Bioshock Infinite Premium and Ultimate Songbird Editions Announced October 18, 2012
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Well, after that phenomenal showing at E3 2011, Bioshock Infinite was looking to be just as groundbreaking a game as the original. When it missed the 2012 release window, we all knew that Bioshock Infinite was probably one of the most anticipated games of 2013. Now, Irrational Games has announced that two special collectors editions will be released for the game we’ve all been waiting for.
The Bioshock Infinite Premium Edition will retail for $79.99 US. The Ultimate Songbird Edition will retail for $149.99 US. You can read all the official details about it here.
Bioshock Infinite is coming to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 February 2013.
Dead Space 3 Limited Edition Preview October 17, 2012
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EA has promised that Dead Space 3 will launch with a Limited Edition across all platforms. Now, we have the opportunity to take a look at the special goodies that are coming with it. Download codes for two exclusive suits will be included, as well as two exclusive weapons. Take a look at them for yourselves.
The Dead Space 3 Limited Edition is coming Feb 2013 to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 and will be priced at $59.99 US.
Halo 4 Infinity Multiplayer ViDoc October 16, 2012
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I know many of you are probably waiting in anticipation for the debate tonight, and may want to watch something before the feed starts at 9PM. Well, have I got something for you Halo fans. It has become a long-standing tradition that a series of documentaries (dubbed the ViDoc) would come out in anticipation of a Halo game and that tradition has carried over to 343 Industries for Halo 4.
The newest ViDoc focuses on the development of Halo 4’s Infinity Multiplayer gametype, which brings so much more to the multiplayer game than we have previously seen in a Halo game. Take a look for yourselves!
Halo 4 is coming November 6th, 2012 exclusive to the Xbox 360.
Third Political Debate Streaming On Xbox Live Tonight October 16, 2012
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This is just a reminder that the third of four political debates will be streaming tonight on Xbox Live. This is the second Presidential Debate and it will be between the incumbent President Barack Obama and his challenger former Governor Mitt Romney.
The debate will start tonight at 9PM EST and will go until 10:30PM. Any Xbox Live Rewards Members are eligible to earn a code for exclusive Halo 4 SPARTAN-IV gold armor for their Xbox Live Avatars if they watch at least thirty minutes of tonight’s debate, and thirty minutes each from two others.
Microsoft promises that the avatar armor codes will be sent to rewards members on or around the first of November, if they met the qualifications.
Halo 4 is coming November 6th, 2012 exclusive to the Xbox 360.
New Nintendo Wii Bundle Drops Price October 15, 2012
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There is a new Nintendo Wii model which is being phased into retailers prior to the Wii U launch next month. The bundle will feature a black model Wii and will include Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort on a single game disc.
Nintendo expects retailers should be fully stocked with the new Wii bundle by October 26th, 2012. It is unlikely this console will be backwards compatible with Nintendo GameCube games.
The new bundle is expected to be $130 US, a $20 price drop from the current Wii bundle which comes with New Super Mario Bros Wii.
Sanity: Aiken’s Artifact, Downloadable Content Ten Years Early October 15, 2012
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Back in Summer 2000 I was asked by GameSpy to be a part of a multiplayer beta test for a brand new game that was coming out later that year. It was a third person 3D RPG for the PC which starred the famous rapper Ice T. The game was called Sanity: Aiken’s Artifact and it was developed by Monolith Productions, which had previously worked on games like Shogo, and published by Fox Interactive, which was at the time branching out from simply publishing games that were based on 20th Century Fox properties.
The revolutionary aspect of Sanity: Aiken’s Artifact was that each of the powers and abilities that you used in the game was represented by playing cards that you would find in the game’s world. This was just as the world was becoming accustomed to customizable card games like Magic: The Gathering, and it was integrated perfectly with the game’s style. Pick up a card (which in the game were called talents), and all of a sudden you would be able to use that card’s abilities for real in the game. The interface was similar to Diablo 2’s and it worked really well in a 3D game engine. You could just simply drag your best cards into the lower menu and select which one you wanted to attack with in real-time. You could also bring your card collection into multiplayer, and use them to battle online.
What was so revolutionary about the game was that the game wasn’t designed to just be limited to the 80 cards that was included in the retail package. You could add more. Monolith and Fox promised that a ton more cards would be coming, and they started by offering two different sets of unique cards which you could purchase in a bundle from Real.com (no that is not a typo, it was really being sold on the RealPlayer site) and would be fully compatible with the game’s official demo or the full retail version of the game. The concept of downloadable content, free or paid, would not even be talked about until years later, and this game was doing it in the year 2000. When the game released, a special mini CD-ROM was included with copies that were preordered online from EBgames, which included several more unique cards, and an issue of PC Gamer had a few more. Only one card was ever released online for free, on their official website some time after release.
The problem was that the game somehow just didn’t stand out. It had review scores ranging in the mid to high 80s, which was fantastic, but none of the reviewers really talked about the new features that the downloadable card system brought to the table. In the end the game was quickly forgotten soon after its release. Monolith and Fox Interactive had found a huge hit with their No One Lives Forever series, the first of which was released shortly after Sanity, and once that game was on track for release at the end of that year, they devoted most of their resources and advertizing focus to NOLF and away from Sanity. That meant that the extra cards that were promised never got released.
Unfortunately, Monolith never revisited the series. After No One Lives Forever’s release, Monolith started working on Aliens Vs Predator 2 and its expansion, and when the next generation came about, they found hits with F.E.A.R. and Condemned: Criminal Origins. Nowadays, no one even remembers the game, so its hard to find archived information about it. It’s sad that we never got to learn just what Monolith or Fox had in mind for the Sanity series, or just what extra cards may have been coming. I haven’t found a single site online which collected the game’s extra cards, however I did think ahead to store all the cards that I did obtain (which I think were all of them) on a floppy disk. I haven’t had a floppy drive installed in my PC since Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Vista.
Nowadays a game is pretty much expected to see post-release content in some form, be it patches, maps, levels, or new skins. People like to say that paid downloadable content came to the mainstream with games like Halo 2 for the Xbox or Oblivion for the Xbox 360, but I would argue that it all started with a little game made for the PC where you could control a super powered Ice T and collect cards. It really was a fun game, and I wish more people had played it.
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Part 2 Released October 12, 2012
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It’s Friday and that means that the second part of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn has been released to Halo Waypoint and Machinima Prime.
More parts will be arriving every Friday to the Halo Waypoint app on the Xbox 360 and the Machinima Prime YouTube Channel. If you would like to see Part 1 click here.
Halo 4 is coming November 6th, 2012 exclusive to the Xbox 360. The feature-length Director’s Cut of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn will be released with the Halo 4 Limited Edition on that date, and a Blu-Ray Disc release is expected in December.
Xbox Live Terms of Service Updated October 12, 2012
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If you’re like me and have your Xbox 360 set to automatically sign into your profile and log you into Xbox Live when turning the system on, you’ll probably be pretty puzzled when you’re greeted with a dashboard that was not connected. That happpened to me this afternoon. You will probably be even more puzzled when you run a network test and find that the network troubleshooter can connect to Live just fine.
I just want to assure everyone that Xbox Live is not down. Microsoft has updated the Xbox Live Terms of Service (TOS) and they are currently requiring a manual log in in order for you to view the new TOS and either accept or deny it. You will not be able to connect to Live without accepting the new TOS.
Vice Presidential Debate Tonight On Xbox Live October 11, 2012
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Just a reminder to all of you political animals, the Vice Presidential Debate will be hosted tonight at 9PM EST on Xbox Live. Xbox Live Rewards Members who watch at least thirty minutes of it tonight (and at least thirty minutes of two other debates) through their Xbox 360s will be eligible for an exclusive Gold Halo 4 Spartan-IV suit of armor for their Xbox Live Avatars.
You can read all the details about the promotion here.
Halo 4 is coming November 6th, 2012 (which is Election Day in the US) exclusive to the Xbox 360.
God of War Ascension E3 2012 Demo Playable With Total Recall Blu-Ray October 10, 2012
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It looks like the God of War developers will be taking a page from the history of District 9 and will be releasing the entire E3 demo presentation for God of War Ascension to anyone who picks up the Blu-Ray Disc release of 2012’s Total Recall starring Colin Ferrel.
If you’re interesting in seeing just exactly what I am talking about, here’s what the demo looked like when it was presented at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Total Recall will be released to Blu-Ray Disc December 18th, 2012. God of War Ascension is coming March 12th, 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3. A multiplayer beta is coming to people who picked up the God of War Saga for PS3.
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