Sony Sending Out Playstation Rewards Gifts April 29, 2011

I got an envelope today with the Sony Playstation logo as the return address.  I figured it was probably some kind of long catalog or binder.  When I opened it up, there was an extra-large black t-shirt with Japanese lettering on it that spelled out Playstation.

Enclosed with the t-shirt was a thank you from Sony for participating in the Playstation Rewards Beta Test.  Because I had tiered during the Rewards test, I had gotten the shirt.

For those of you who were also beta testers for the Playstation Rewards program, you will probably be getting your goodies soon as well.  I don’t know what higher tiered users will be getting, but I was the lowest tier and I got this shirt, so if you were on a low tier, you’ll probably get that.

Sony did announce they’re not following through with fully launching the Playstation Rewards program just now.  It’s likely that they decided it just wasn’t worth it when they made that decision, so unfortunatly if you weren’t part of the Rewards beta, I don’t think they’re going to do another one just now.

If anyone else got something different from Sony since you got a higher tier, please post a comment!

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Episodes 2 and 3 April 27, 2011

Wow these episodes are getting posted up faster than I can talk about them!

The second and third episodes of Mortal Kombat: Legacy have hit the web.  The second picks up where the first left off with Jax, Sonya and Kano, the third is about Johnny Cage, that’s right the famous Hollywood star, and is done in a different style.  There’s also cameos by Ed Boon and Victor Lucas, which is always a plus to any series.

This is machinima.com’s YouTube embeds we’re talking about so make sure to disable all captions before the video starts or you’ll never be able to see half the screen.

Meanwhile, Mortal Kombat is out for PS3 and Xbox 360 right now.

Latest Prey 2 Details April 25, 2011

Human Head has started doing a bunch of interviews with the press about the upcoming Prey 2, the sequel to 2006’s Prey. In the interviews, they’ve been dropping a lot of tidbits about what to expect about the game.

The game appears to be using a heavily modified version of the engine that powered Doom 3. They promise to retain all the bells and whistles that engine provided, including the lighting and shadowing systems, but also the ability to support LARGE enviroments, something that will be provided in the game.

There will not be any multiplayer. I’m really bummed out by this. I mean, I know that the Xbox 360’s multiplayer was practically unplayable, but the PC’s multiplayer (dubbed MultiPrey) was playable, and really a lot of fun. All the game mechanics, portals, and weapons made for a fun multiplayer experience.

The game will not have portals. Their reasoning is that the portal system would only be on the Sphere, which was the major enviroment of the first game. Since this new game isn’t taking place on the Sphere, there would not be portals.

Finally, the game will have a whole new protagonist. As previously reported, the new character will be an air marshal who was on the 747 that crashed into the Sphere during the first game. To survive, he has become a bounty hunter, and will use weapons and gadgets unique to the game both for killing and capturing targets, as well as a scanner for detecting targets.

As for the fate of the first game’s hero, Tommy? Well, that’s currently unknown. However they did tease we might run into him in the new game.

Well, with that all out of the way, here’s my take on this. Why this game has the Prey name is beyond my comprehension. It has nothing to do with the spirit of the first game. The entire basis of the Prey property revolved around being respectful to Native American roots, and using that heritage to defeat a technologicially superior alien race. None of that is going to be in this game.

However, this design reminds me a lot about the very FIRST game design for Prey, as written by Tom Hall. I’ve looked like crazy to find that original game design document but I think the original site hosting it has been shut down. It was about a regular human, abducted by aliens, being forced to compete in alien gladitorial games. Along the way he had to mingle and gain the trust of three distinct alien species, and learn the secrets of a special fourth species that exists behind the scenes.

The new game design documents for Prey 2 remind me a lot of this design, opposed to the revised design which basically was father to the first game. Still upset over losing multiprey, but they are promising a deep open world single player campaign.

Prey 2 is coming for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. If you’re interested in playing the first Prey, its out for Xbox 360 and PC.

New Max Payne 3 Screenshots, Some Actually Look Like Max Payne Now April 22, 2011

Max Payne 3 has not had a positive mention in most gamer dialogs since the initial previews of it hit the internet.  Originally developed by Remedy, the same developers who went on to make Alan Wake, Max Payne was a Hard-Boiled New York City detective who went rogue after being framed for murder and staged a personal vendetta against the mafia family that framed him.  Along the way he uncovered a government conspiracy and single-handedly destroyed an entire designer drug operation.

He also fell in love with a mafia hit woman, the identical twin of the Don’s wife.  Twice it appeared she died, and with the multiple endings of Max Payne 2, it was left ambiguous if she had survived or not.  For years fans clamored Remedy and publisher Rockstar for a third game to the series.  They wanted Max back, they wanted to know where the story was going to go from there.  But Remedy was busy working on Alan Wake and no longer had the rights to the game.  Rockstar promised a third game would come, and fans eagerly awaited to see it.

Then the first screenshots and synopsis hit the internet and all that eagerness turned into a collective groan.  Max Payne 3 showed Max in a completely different city in a completely different country. He no longer looked like the character we knew and loved and instead like a flabby bald failure.  What does this have to do with the third game to the series so many know and love?  Well, nothing.

The game had a definite release date which I don’t think anyone was looking forward to.  But some time after the previews and the solid release date were announced the game was pulled from release and the project, which had a pretty steady momentum to release up to that point, went dark.  I think a lot of people figured that the negative press from fans made Rockstar think twice about destroying their extremely expensive property.  I personally was secretly hoping that they’d cancel the game altogether and apologize for the insult that was the initial screenshots.

Well from the looks of it, they’re still going ahead with the project, but these new screenshots show that at least some respect for the property is being added to the game as they do now intend to show the story of how Max went from where he was in the previous games to where the game developers are putting him now.

The game currently has no release date but the site says it’s coming for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Duke Nukem Forever Uncensored Trailer April 21, 2011

Gearbox Software and 2KGames decided to finally throw caution to the wind and release a bona-fide uncensored trailer for Duke Nukem Forever.  Lets face it, if you decided to censor every Duke Nukem Forever trailer that you were releasing, you’re not really going to be able to see very much of the game (as was shown in the initial release date trailer).

I remember a lot of people on the Gearbox Software Forums were concerned that the fact that the footage was censored on YouTube meant that the game was going to be censored as well.  No, it’s just not happening.  Want to see the game uncensored?  YouTube be damned, here you go.

Duke Nukem Forever is coming June 14th, 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Do Not Adjust Your Networks, PSN is Down April 21, 2011

Yeah, I’m writing this little tidbit to everyone with a PS3 that gets a rejection notice from the PSN whenever they try to log in.  You also might notice that your Steam Cloud support in Portal 2 is no longer working (which is what tipped me off that their was a problem, my cloud saves were no longer syncing halfway through my second playthrough).

The Playstation Network is not functioning very well right now, and Sony is looking into it.  That said, they have no definite timeline as of the point I’m typing this, as to when the issue is going to be resolved, and it could easily last a day or two.

Needless to say, if you want to play an MP game on your PS3 right now, you likely won’t be able to, nor will you be able to access the Steam service through the PSN right now either (Steam Service through PC is functioning perfectly fine however, if you’d rather continue your Portal 2 game on your PC or Mac, feel free to.)

The current ramifications on this site are as follows.  I had wanted to do a recording of the inFamous 2 beta software which I got access to and was in the process of downloading and show you what was up with it.  I can’t do that until this issue is resolved.

inFamous 2 Beta Codes Being E-mailed April 19, 2011

If you’re one of the individuals who signed up for the inFamous 2 beta you’ll find out if you’re either very much in luck or not at all, as it seems that the e-mails are being sent out with beta codes as I type this down.

The beta is for the mission editor system, which allows people to create their own missions.  Just how in depth this goes is not quite understood by me, but after I give it a whirl I’ll be sure to post up my thoughts about it.

The beta will run between today and the 6th of May.

inFamous 2 is coming this June exclusive to the Playstation 3.

Halo Waypoint Update Coming Tomorrow April 14, 2011

A highly anticipated functionality update is coming to Halo Waypoint tomorrow.  The be-all and end all free Xbox 360 program to integrate all the achievements across all Xbox 360 Halo games and their DLC, is becoming a lot more functional come Friday.

You’ll soon be able to check out your multiplayer statistics in Halo Reach, similar to how you’re able to look them up on bungie.net and compare them.  They’re also promising that the release will also coincide with the release of The Mona Lisa animated feature, which was based off the story from the Halo Evolutions book.

This update can also be expected to come to the mobile program as well.

I for one, love the Halo Waypoint, but I think that the initial novelty of the program has worn off, given the fact that I’ve pretty much gotten every single achievement I could possibly get in Halo games at this point (Halo Reach’s DLC notwithstanding) and since I made it past rank 50 already and got the EVA Helmet awarded, there’s really been no incentive to go back and get those extra levels without a major reward dangled in front of me.  Hopefully something will be added in this update that will be an incentive to leveling up.

On a side note, Xbox has a rewards program that they’re testing, and I saw a promotion on it for spending at least 200 Microsoft Points you get a free Banshee avatar item.  I spent those points last night to buy the new Halo Reach Map Pack, but the site doesn’t say how I’m going to unlock the Banshee.  The site also states that they’ll give you 400 points for spending 800 on the Halo Reach Defiant Map Pack (the new one).  I’m pretty sure you have to be a rewards member to get access to these deals, but I encourage you to check the site for yourselves, log into your Live Profile and see if you get in.

Portal 2 Investment Opportunity Video 4 April 12, 2011

The fourth (and probably final) Portal 2 Investment Opportunity trailer has hit the web.  This one is detailing the newest technology in footwear.

In the original Portal game, the protagonist walked around barefoot with these stylish walking prosthetics attached to her leg, which I immediately took as some new futuristic form of high-heeled shoe.  It turns out, that this is why in the game you can fall incredible distances and not have your legs rip off your body.  The shape was strikingly similar to the prosthetics worn by Special Olympics runners who have lost their legs (I believe they were modeled after the legs of bipedal animals).

Well, now they’re adding a boot to it!  You can check it out here.

Portal 2 is releasing April 21st, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.