The Phantom Pain Alternative Trailer January 22, 2013

Moby Dick Studio has released this updated version of the trailer they released at the VGAs.  This alternate trailer doesn’t change much with the trailer itself but it does bring in an entirely new music soundtrack.  The footage is still being rendered entirely on a high-end PC, but the studio promises that the game will release to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

The more times I see this trailer the more I believe the online community in their belief that this trailer is a hoax for the next Metal Gear Solid game.  The game’s protagonist, although his face is partially bandaged, looks very similar to Naked Snake’s face from the Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes trailer.  One of his eyes is clearly bandaged, showing that the character could have lost it.  Naked Snake is already missing an eye.

The character’s movement when shambling around with difficulty reminded me of a very similar moment in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, where Solid Snake had to walk through a corridor bathed in intense microwaves.  As time progressed it became harder and harder to move through the area, and Snake became weaker and slumped closer to the ground, bringing his movement to a slow crawl.

The new music track included in this alternate trailer at the two-minute mark also sounds very similar to a track from the Metal Gear Solid games.  The new music has a very similar guitar rhythm to ones that would play during a boss fight or action sequence.

But I believe the two strongest pieces of evidence that the trailer is a hoax comes from two very important moments towards the end of the trailer.  At 2:36 in the trailer, a giant flaming whale comes out of the sky.  Could this be where the studio, if it is a fake, got its fake name from?  It is highly unusual that a brand new game developer would name themselves directly after an event or character of their flagship game, particularly one that would be so plainly seen in their first game trailer.  Usually game studios are named after unrelated things or were references to popular projects the studio heads had done in the past.

The other, and the one that brings it to the closest connection with Metal Gear Solid is the appearance at 2:57 of what looks to be a doll of The Sorrow floating above someone in pain.  The Sorrow was a boss in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.  He was a member of The Boss’s Cobra Unit, and while he was already dead before the game began, he somehow had the power to act as a ghost and impact the real world.  Though he was defeated in MGS3, a doll of him was used by another boss in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.  It was wielded by Mantis, one of the final members of the Beauty and the Beast Corps that Snake battled in the game.  The Sorrow’s doll could even be collected and used by Snake as a special item.  While the B&B Corps would not be around during the events of Ground Zeros, The Sorrow would still be dead.  Could this explain the origin of Mantis’s doll?

The Phantom Pain is coming to Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Halo 4 Spartan Ops Episode 6 Released January 21, 2013

The long wait following the release of Spartan Ops Episode 5 has officially finished.  Spartan Ops Episode 6 has been released for free to all Halo 4 owners with Xbox Live Gold Subscriptions, and Halo Waypoint promises that with the release of Episode 6, the series will return to weekly releases leading up to Episode 10.  Want to know what’s going on this week?  Take a look at this.

Spartan Ops is an episodic cooperative campaign following the events of Halo 4’s single-player story.  A new episode is released each week for free and is composed of one computer generated video that sets the stage for the episode’s story, and several missions that can be tackled alone or cooperatively with friends online.  All of these episodes will lead up to the release of Halo 5.

For those of you who haven’t played the previous episodes in a while, here’s a quick recap on what has currently happened in the Spartan Ops story.

Halo 4 is out now exclusive to the Xbox 360.

Mass Effect 3 N7 Armor Unlockable in Dead Space 3 January 21, 2013

Fans of Mass Effect and Dead Space are going to be pretty happy about this announcement.  It looks like Issac Clarke is about to become a Spectre.  The iconic N7 armor worn by Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series will be a special unlockable armor you can wear in Dead Space 3.

Anyone with a save file for Mass Effect 3 will be able to obtain the N7 Armor from the in-game store when they play Dead Space 3.

If you want to see for yourselves what the N7 Armor is going to look like in Dead Space 3, take a look at this.

Dead Space 3 is coming February 5th, 2013 to the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  The game’s demo will be released for download tomorrow to all PS3 and Xbox 360 owners.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Jack the Ripper Trailer January 20, 2013

It is an understatement to call what I’m about to show you guys a trailer. It is a tradition for Konami to premiere a new Metal Gear Solid game with a trailer unlike anything we had seen before. In 2000, the first trailer for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was released and clocked in at just under ten minutes. It featured a mixture of in-game cinematics and gameplay. In comparison, other companies would show no more than 90 seconds and show gameplay clips cut to rock music.

Well, we’re in the last few weeks leading up to the release of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, a spin-off game from the Metal Gear Solid series featuring RAIDEN, the hero of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and now is the perfect time for Konami to break out a seven minute trailer showing what this game has in store for players.

The following trailer is referred to as the Jack the Ripper trailer. For those of you familiar with the story of MGS2, Jack the Ripper was the nickname that Raiden earned as a child soldier when he served under Solidus. As an adult, his childhood was extremely traumatic to him and it was only by repressing those memories was he able to cope. After the events of MGS2, he could no longer ignore his childhood memories, and this trailer shows that something has happened to him during the course of this new game that could cause him to become even more dangerous than he was before. For those of you who need a reminder how dangerous he was, in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, he took out several walking tanks using only a sword.

Take a look and see for yourselves what he’s in for next.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is coming February 19th, 2013 to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Super Power Beat Down Video Game Battle Royale January 20, 2013

Our friends over at Bat in the Sun, the creators of the series Super Power Beat Down and several amazing Batman fanfilms, were asked by Machinima.com to produce a video which took some of the most popular characters from recent video games and battle each other to determine just who was the best.

This is one heck of a fight featuring five very popular powerful characters from across gaming.  Cortana from Halo, Connor from Assassin’s Creed 3, Vaas from Far Cry 3, Max Payne from Max Payne and Lee from The Walking Dead.

A teaser was released in anticipation for the Inside Gaming Awards Show, but until this point the public has not seen who was the victor.  Well the votes have been tallied online, and now we can see who won.

Don’t forget, you can still cast your votes for Episode 7 here!

God of War: Ascension Single-Player Demo Announced January 20, 2013

Hope you PS3 owners are enjoying the God of War: Ascension multiplayer beta today!  Sony has announced that there will be a God of War: Ascension single-player demo coming in February 2013.  No details about that have been released yet, but Sony promises that more details will be coming leading up to the demo’s release.  If you can’t wait that long, a single-player demo from this past E3 was already released on the Total Recall (2012) Blu-Ray Disc.

You can read all the details about the demo and the God of War: Ascension Collector’s Edition here.  Or you can check out this teaser, which sets the stakes of just what Kratos is in for in this next game, and what enemies and bosses may be in his way.

God of War: Ascension releases March 12th, 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3.  If you’re interested in the joining the multiplayer beta on the Playstation 3, check this out.

God of War: Ascension Multiplayer Beta Code January 20, 2013

Sony is wrapping up the final hours of the God of War: Ascension multiplayer beta and now they want to open that beta to all Playstation 3 owners!  If you want to get a brief taste of the first multiplayer mode ever released for a God of War game, fire up your Playstation 3, because here’s a code that will get you in.

F2TA – HMNB – 762G

This code is an all access code, which means it will work for ANYONE who redeems it.  You can read all the details about the multiplayer beta here.

All players who participate in the beta will unlock the Champions Blade and Armor for their multiplayer champion when the final version of the game releases.

God of War: Ascension is coming March 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Has Gone Gold January 17, 2013

The game I got to preview at E3 2011 and PAX East 2012 has gone gold!  Aliens: Colonial Marines, has completed development and is being sent to manufacturing for release next month.  The game is a sequel to the movie Aliens, which was directed by James Cameron and released in 1986, and follows the events after the movie.  This could answer questions that the Alien sequels never did.

So what do we have to look forward to?  Well you can check out one of my previews about the game.  Or you can check out this latest trailer, which is probably on TV right now!

Aliens: Colonial Marines is coming February 12th, 2013 to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.  It will be on the Wii U by the end of March.

Dead Space 3 Dev-Team Edition Announced January 13, 2013

EA has announced the highly exclusive Dead Space 3 Dev-Team Edition. This special collector’s edition for Dead Space 3 is made up of the following collectibles which EA says are based on actual props and items in the Dead Space universe.

• 13″ SCAF Tin Crate
• 8″ Ployresin Black Marker Statue
• Aluminum Data Pad
• Med Pack Water Bottle
• Bound SCAF Jotter
• 3 SCAF Posters
• 6 Peng Postcards
• 96 Page Mini Art Book

EA promises that they will bundle any version of Dead Space 3 with this collector’s edition, be it PC, Xbox 360 or PS3. However, EA can only bundle physical editions of the game with the Dev-Team Edition, so sadly anyone interested in bundling it with a digitally downloaded PC copy will have to buy that separately.

Already have a copy of Dead Space 3 preordered elsewhere or prefer a digital copy of the game through Origin? Do not worry, you do not need to buy this bundled with a copy of Dead Space 3.

The Dead Space 3 Dev-Team Edition can only be purchased from EA Gear. If you want it with a copy of the PC, Xbox 360 or PS3 version of the game it will cost $160.00 US plus the cost of shipping. If you wish to get it without a copy of the game included the cost is $100 US plus shipping. Only 5,000 have been made.

Dead Space 3 is coming February 5th, 2013 to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

God of War: Ascension Multiplayer Beta is Live January 13, 2013

Sony would just like to remind all of us that the God of War: Ascension Multiplayer Beta, the first multiplayer mode ever released for a God of War game, has been released to the Playstation Store and can be downloaded free of charge to all Playstation Plus members, or anyone who may have gotten a valid download code for it.

So what does this new multiplayer game bring to the table, and how does it complement the God of War story?  Well, here are all the details.

And don’t worry guys, the game is going to have a fantastic single player story as well.  It is set at the earliest part of the God of War timeline, and follows Kratos as he learns how to break free of his oath to Ares, the God of War.

God of War: Ascension is coming March, 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3.