Saturday, April 12

New Resistance Trailer




Insomniac has released a new trailer for it's highly anticipated sequel to the ps3 launch title, Resistance: Fall of Man. The trailer is basically 20 seconds of in-game cutscene footage. While the trailer is kinda lame, it does reveal that one June 13th GameTrailers TV will have exclusive gameplay footage of Resistance 2.





-Ryizzel


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GTA IV site updated



Rockstar has updated their GTA IV site with new information about the game's multiplayer and some fairly entertaining videos. The video posted above shows off a new character, Playboy X, "A philanthropist, philosopher, and businessman", while the video posted after the break shows off the GTA IV's weapons.






-Ryizzel


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Friday, April 11

Week's End Sum-Up

Now is the time for our new segment here at B&W where we recap the week's most newsworthy posts and talk a little about what we're gaming our way through this week. Yeah, yeah, I probably stole this idea from like every gaming news blog out there, but who cares! It's a good, fun idea dammit.

This week was crazy in news, at least it was on Monday. After that it was all a slow trickle of imporant news. Which is why we spent even longer than usual on making our posts super awesome. Check out the highlights of the week riiiight after this sentence.

  • Thanks to the internet and their wonderful boycotting skills, Bad Company Beta's guns are in fact free.
  • After 27 years in print, Games For Windows magazine is now an e-zine.
  • HD DVD suckers could get $50s in Amazon.com credit.
  • GamePro got owned by GameSetWatch
  • Bioshock 2 may, or may not be coming to the Ps3 as well.

    So what games are you guys playing this weekend? I'm going to try and beat Folklore, or at least Keats' side of the story. Then I'll work a little more on Super Mario Galaxy, that crazy Mario is always getting into so much trouble...

    Tell us your thoughts on the week, games, or yell at us if we angered you somehow. But who could be angry at a face like ours?





    -Undrallio


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  • Thursday, April 10

    Lair To Be Slightly Less Sucky Come April 17th

    Everyone remembers when Lair was on it's way, sounded like an awesome game to most of us. Piloting a dragon using the Sixaxis motion control and eating little dudes while you breathe fire and wreak havoc. The idea was awesome coated in a light sauce of genius. Unfortunately the game hit the dirt hard and never came back up, the controls were terrible, graphics par, music was pretty good, but the overall experience was very disappointing.

    That may get changed though, and very soon!

    Factor Fail, *cough* sorry, Factor FIVE has announced that a much needed update will be coming to Lair on April 17th. The update, should of course make it less suckish, probably not unsucky, but not so much sucking should be going on while you play. Hit the jump to see why the update will, in theory, de-suckify Lair. I promise no more suck jokes.

    Suckers! Alright, now that I've sucked myself dry (there I go again..), the new update for Lair is actually going to be action-packed with goodies.

  • Analog control will be enabled, meaning no more horrid Sixaxis
  • Two new dragons for you to munch humans with.
  • Dualshock 3 support, so you can feel every chomp, tail swing, and devastating roar.
  • Finally, some new cool little themes that will show on the main menu and change randomly.

    Will it fix Lair? Probably not. Will it make it much, much better for people who already have it? Hopefully; Lair owners are certainly praying their balls (or feminine parts) off on this one.



    -Undrallio


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  • Gun Metal Grey PS3 coming to America

    Yesterday Sony confirmed that it will be releasing the "VERY, VERY Limited Edition" gun metal grey PS3 in North America. Until recently, it was speculated that the model would only be made available in japan. No details have been released about the price or release date. You can bet it will be pretty hard to come by though.


    Source





    -Ryizzel


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    Europe to get Metal Gear Online Beta

    European gamers seem to always get shafted by developers when it comes to game releases, but it seems Konami has not forgotten about our brothers from across the sea. Recently Konami contacted Eurogamer.com announcing it will be unveiling it's Metal Gear Online plans shortly.

    Source







    -Ryizzel


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    Wednesday, April 9

    Battlefield: Bad Company guns are free

    If you've been on the internet this past week, you've probably heard the collective bitching gamers have been doing over EA charging people to buy guns in their latest Battlefield game. Hearing their cries, DICE senior producer Karl-Magnus Troedsson sat down with IGN and announced that none of the guns for Battlefield: Bad Company will be exclusive to anyone.


    No, there's no charge for any of the guns in the game. All of the guns in the game can be achieved without purchasing them. All guns are available to everyone. However, we want to give some exclusivity to those who buy the Gold Edition. They will get the five Gold Edition weapons from Day One when they put the disc in. People that don't buy the Gold Edition can get the five additional weapons by getting to the final rank in the game. There will be a golden, shiny five-weapon unlock when they hit level 25 in the game.


    As for the weapons the participants in beta saw posted on Xbox Box Live, gamers will be able to acquire those via "marketing programs" ran by EA. The reason they were posted on XBL was due to "big bug in the Beta, an internal miscommunication" about the gold weapons.

    There ya have it guys, if someone or something on the internet bothers you, whine, bitch, moan and complain. Eventually, the combined bitching of you and the billions of inhabitants of the internet will be enough to change anything!






    -Ryizzel


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    A Wii Ware Game That Looks Fun AND Original?

    Well, it's sort of original at least. The game is called Lost Winds and the objective is to use the Wiimote to control the wind to move your character up and about.

    There's a gameplay video too, and if the music from the video says anything, Lost Winds seems like it will be a stress-reliever more than anything. The music is so...calming...








    -Undrallio


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    Did You Buy An HD DVD Player From Amazon?

    If you were one of the people who ended up investing in the losing side of the format wars before February 28th, 2008, you can get something out of it; other than being laughed at by Sony fanboys, you have the opportunity to get a quick-and-easy $50 store credit to Amazon.com.

    Not only do you get the credit, but you get to keep your fully functional HD DVD Player so you can watch all 10 movies you have for it! Read up on how to go about that after the break.

    While credit is often times the consumer's enemy (it's all about the dollar bill ya'll) fiddy in Amazon credit can get you lots of cool things. For instance....

  • Fresh Rabbit Meat
  • Uranium Ore
  • Four Bottles of Liquid Ass Fart Spray!

    There's all sorts of things you can get on Amazon if you do a little searching, so go get your free $50 credit HD DVD purchasers and get spending!

    Dear Amazon.com Customer,

    As someone who purchased an HD DVD player from us before February 23, 2008,* you might like to hear about a special offer available from Amazon.com.

    New technologies don't always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com.** Just use promotional code XXXXXXXXXX when checking out. The code is valid through April 9, 2009, so you have plenty of time to use your credit. Purchases from third-party merchants on our site are not eligible.

    * On February 23, 2008, the last manufacturer of HD DVD players announced it was ceasing production of those players.

    ** Offer cannot be used to pay for special-order titles, e-books or downloadable e-content, wireless service plans, gift certificates, gift-wrap, taxes, or shipping and handling charges. $50.00 promotional credit is per HD DVD player purchased prior to February 23, 2008--up to 10 units for a maximum credit of $500.00.




    [thanks Engadget]



    -Undrallio


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  • Tuesday, April 8

    Paradise Patch v1.2 Date Announced

    According to TeamXbox Burnout Paradise's Patch v1.2 (which you can read about in my previous article here) is now known as codename Bogart, and has a release date of April 24th.

    [UPDATE] Alright, it's all good, Criterion put up a post with a cool little countdown timer too. Here's the link. [/UPDATE]

    However when I went to Burnout Paradise's main site, I found nothing about the release date anywhere. So I'm attempting to get in touch with them to confirm. Until then, let's hold that date tentatively.





    -Undrallio


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    PSP Firmware update makes minor tweaks to remote play.

    Sony has announced it will be releasing a new firmware update (v3.95)for the PSP soon. The update will add some minor tweaks to remote play.

    The update includes the following:

    * While playing PSone games on your PSP, you can now customize how the buttons are assigned by going to [Controller Settings] > [Assign Buttons] and select [Custom].

    * You can now quit Remote Play and choose to turn off your PS3 or leave it on after quitting. This is useful if you are performing a download and want to quit Remote Play, but still want your download to continue on the PS3. Select [Quit and Turn Off the PS3 System] or [Quit Without Turning Off the PS3 System] from [Quit Remote Play] when you press the HOME button on the PSP system.







    -Ryizzel


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    Hey, Did You See the Latest Issue of Games For Windows?

    If you said yes, then you're a liar. While the most recent one would be the last issue printed, the actual current issue will NOT be coming to print. In fact, Games For Windows will never be coming to print again (Ok...maybe in a few years, but right now, no). GFW has become yet another internet-only based gaming information site.

    The reason? The money lies in the internet, a business strategy. Remember however, not all is lost. You can still find the original, great editors online at their site, 1Up.

    After running in print for 27 years, which is a long freaking time mind you, they've finally moved on with the digital era. Sadly, I really enjoyed reading their magazine every month, especially editor-in-chief Jeff Green's articles.

    You can read GameDaily's interview with Ziff Davis after the break, hit up 1Up's post, or go straight to Jeff Green's blog and read about it.

    Following the announcement that GFW would be moving from print to online-exclusive, Next-Gen had a chance to chat with Cox over the phone.

    He revealed that news of the closure of the magazine came as much of a surprise to the GFW staff as it did to the gaming public. Cox explained that because of GFW's partnership with Microsoft, Ziff Davis had to keep news of the magazine's canning quiet; the staff didn't know it had already released its last print edition until this morning.

    He said that the fact that the editorial staff (Ziff Davis had to let go of two GFW artists) was staying at 1Up in an online capacity lessened the blow, but when a magazine that's been around for 27 years is discontinued, it cuts deep for staff and for fans of the magazine.

    "There's a lot of sadness for the demise of a 27-year-old storied publication," Cox said. "On the other hand, people are excited about what these guys can do when we let them loose online."

    Cox elaborated upon the factors that contributed Ziff Davis' decision to stop printing GFW.

    "The newsstand was a very challenging space for us. It was a tough place to be," he said. "And then you have the marketers who want to advertise in print, but they don't put the budgets behind it that they used to, and they tend to be moving towards online. Wrap those things up, and it's not a pretty picture from a business perspective."

    GFW's situation is not unique. Print publications are looking for ways to flourish in a market where the Internet is becoming the prime destination for readers.

    "It's a challenge for all of us moving forward, how to keep print relevant," Cox said. With GFW, Ziff Davis saw ad dollars "fly" to online at a rapid pace. With console-centric publications, the move of ad dollars to online is slower, but still occurring.

    So what does this mean for Ziff Davis' Electronic Gaming Monthly, another "storied" games publication?

    "The prognosis for [Electronic Gaming Monthly] is good, but ultimately, of course, that could change. We're all realists here. We all know that ultimately, online is probably going to be where most people are going to get their information. We're not at that point yet, and there is still a place for EGM until we get there."

    Cox said that GFW's editorial staff, which is part of the 1Up Network, has already been thinking in terms of being online and print content creators, which should help the transition.

    "I don't think it was as big of a shock as it could have been. I think that everyone had noticed that the ads weren't as great in GFW as they had been, and I think most of the staff knew that the newsstand was a challenge to the magazine."




    -Undrallio


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    Monday, April 7

    Kane and Lynch, PS3 and 360, To Get Free Map Pack


    The ever controversial Kane and Lynch: Dead Men game is going to be getting some free DLC in the form of a four map, map pack titled "The Dope Bag". Very clever name...

    You can expect to download it for free from XBL and the PSN on April 17th.




    [thanks Shacknews]


    -Undrallio


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    GameStop Special Offer

    The good folks over at Gamestop have a special offer out to promote Nintendo's upcoming racing game, Mario Kart Wii.

    All you must do is trade in 2 wii titles from the list (which is posted after the break) and Gamestop Will let you purchase Mario Kart for the mere price of $9.99. The thing is...all the games on the list are pretty new, so your basically getting screwed six ways from Sunday on this deal.

    Sigh...that's capitalism for ya.

    Baroque
    Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
    Bully: Scholarship Edition
    Cabela's Big Game Hunter
    Carnival Games
    Cars: Mater-National
    Cooking Mama: Cook Off
    Dragonball Z: Budokai T3
    EA Playground
    Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
    Ghost Squad
    Legend of Zelda TP
    Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga
    Madden NFL 2008
    MLB 2K8
    Mario and Sonic Olympic Games
    Mario Party 8
    Mario Strikers Charged
    MOH Heroes 2
    MOH Vanguard
    Metriod Prime 3: Corruption
    MLP Power Pros
    My Sims
    Naurto Clash of Ninja Revolution
    NBA Live 2008
    Need for Speed: Carbon
    Need for Speed: Pro Street
    No More Heroes
    Okami
    Pokemon Battle Revolution
    Rapala Tournament Fishing
    Rayman Raving Rabbids
    Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
    Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
    Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles
    Sims 2: Castaways
    Super Mario Galaxy
    Super Paper Mario
    Super Smash Bros. Brawl
    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008
    Transformers The Game
    Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
    WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008



    -Ryizzel


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    Silly GamePro...

    Just goes to show, if you have a huge site, and like to steal from GameSetWatch, you will be screwed over eventually.

    That's what happened to GamePro at least.

    GameSetWatch found out that GP was stealing content without giving credit where credit was due and GSW played a nice little prank on GameProgh . Please, go laugh at it now. Yep, that whole sentence was the link. So is this one.

    A little more Credit to GameSetWatch.



    -Undrallio


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    PC World Analyzes Sony's Vice President's Claims


    Matt Peckham over at PC World wrote up a pretty interesting article titled, "Sony Says Microsoft 'Has Already Leveraged All Their Big Assets'", and the goal of the post was to get all nice and analytical on Sony's Vice President, Scott Steinberg.

    You can head over to the original article by clicking here, or you can hit the jump and see all of the "claims" without all of that silly description and overbearing sentence structure.

    Claim #1: The Blu-ray format's recent victory has lent the PS3 enormous momentum. True? Probably. Relevance? Very.

    Claim #2: The PS3 has "entertainment leverage" as a media hub, e.g. for "music and movies" playback. True? Not really. Relevance? Not very.

    Claim #3: Sony has a back-library of PS1 and PS2 games it can release for download. True? Absolutely. Relevance? Prove it.

    Claim #4: Sony's 2008 IP lineup is going to result in "a monster year" for the PS3. True: Looking more and more likely. Relevance? Huge.


    The end result of the whole article? Looks like yet again it's another Sony Vs. Microsoft standstill.

    That's good though, it makes for interesting posts when leaders of the industry let a few derogatory statements slip. Not to mention they have to grind out great content to counter each other.





    -Undrallio


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    New Fallout 3 Screens


    Fallout fans rejoice! The latest issue of 360 Magazine not only has nine pages dedicated to Bethesda's upcoming post apocalyptic RPG, but also has several new screenshots for us to salivate over. You can get a quick a summary of the article and view the new screens over at A Post Nuclear Blog.





    -Ryizzel


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    Sony's NOT Closing Servers

    After a post I made a few days ago about Sony closing off some servers it turns out that it was all false information. The original site that stated that SCEA was axing the servers never got SCEA's word on it apperently.


    "SCEA has made no announcements about shutting down the servers, so I'm not sure where this website got that info," an SCEA representative told Shacknews today. "Based on some of the game names it sounds like it is from another territory."

    "It does stand to reason that eventually servers for older titles may be shut down due to lack of participation in those titles as more and more gamers are switching to PS3 and newer content," the representative concluded.


    So quick everyone, go play Amplitude online while you still can!





    -Undrallio


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    Volition Developer Says PS3 Could Potentially Be More Powerful Than The 360

    At THQ's Gamers Day Event a Volition Developer said the Playstation 3 has the potential for better graphics than the 360.

    Jeff Carroll, the associate producer for Red Faction: Guerrilla, said that while developers will struggle with the PS3 at first, once they "figure it out" they will find "a very powerful system underneath".

    When asked about the differences between the PS3 and 360 versions of the game, Carrol said, "We've got the PS3 running at a similar frame rate to the 360. We're finding some of the challenges of the Ps3 beneficial. We feel like we're doing rather well with the PS3."

    Carrol goes on to point out the perks of developing on the ps3, such as the improvement in the running speed once once the animations and physics are moved from the CPU to the SPU.



    Source







    -Ryizzel


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    Gauntlet Hits the DS



    Eidos has announced that Backbone Entertainment will be bringing us a delicious little classic game to our Nintendo DS.

    Everyone remember Gauntlet? Well it's coming back, and with online play, multiplayer modes include deathmatch, team deathmactch, and treasure hoarde. Sound like fun? Damn right it does.

    Hit the jump for slightly more information.

    The game will feature 4 character classes, Elf, Wizard, Warrior, and Valkyrie. Currently there is no release date set, but I'm sure there will be as the game comes to a finish.

    "With Gauntlet we've revitalised all of the action and fun of the original 1980s arcade classic, whilst updating the visuals and gameplay for today's DS gamer," said Eidos brand manager Ray Livingston. "With four-player Wi-Fi cooperative mode, one of the most memorable multiplayer gaming experiences of all time is back with a bang."



    -Undrallio


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    Bioshock 2 For Ps3 As Well?

    According to a job listing for a senior designer at 2K Marin, the current devs for Bioshock 2, they are looking for someone who has "Experience working with recent generation game console technology (Xbox, Xbox360, PlayStation2 or PlayStation3) and Playstation3 experience is required, Unreal Engine 3 experience is preferred."

    Could it be that, while the first Bioshock shows no signs of appearing on the Playstation 3, Bioshock's sequel may very well make it?

    Sonyheads around the world are certainly hoping so.





    -Undrallio


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    Sunday, April 6

    RvB: Reconstruction

    Rooster Teeth is working on a new series entitled, Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction, which appears to be a sequel to the Blood Gulch Chronicles. As seen in the video posted below, Rooster Teeth seems to have abandoned the humor that the franchise is known for.

    Sigh...oh well, we'll miss you caboose.








    -Ryizzel


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    Week 2 of the April Game Releases

    Hey guys, it was a hellaciously slow week for awesome gaming news, and it's even slower in terms of game releases. That's right, it's time again for the game release of the week list!

    Highlights of this week include the final episode of Sam and Max, Assassin's Creed hits the PC, and the individual parts of the Orange Box separate their way on your PC as well.

    I'm going to do things a little bit differently this week, but you all are used to me experimenting anyway. Bold ones are good ones to pick up, bold italicized ones are the picks of the week! Got it? Get it? Good.

    On the PC there's....

    Sam and Max Episode 205: What New Beelzebub?
    Team Fortress 2
    Portal
    Half-Life 2: Episode Pack

    Civil War Mysteries
    Overclocked: A History of Violence
    Nancy Drew: Double Dare 5
    Imagine Animal Doctor

    Assassin's Creed



    Weighing in on the Playstation 2 we have....

    Arcana Heart
    Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2

    Baroque



    In this corner....Nintendo DS....

    Plushees
    Fab 5 Soccer



    The heads turn as Xbox 360 enters the room.....

    Ikaruga (Xbox Live Arcade)




    Reports say that Nintendo Wii has just arrived....

    Summer Sports: Paradise Island
    Minicopter: Adventure Flight

    Baroque




    Finally, the late comer Playstation Portable shows up....

    World Championship Cards



    That's all she wrote everyone, the winner this week is definitely the PC. Happy gaming to all of you whom are...Still Alive....






    -Undrallio


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    Another Company Bites the Dust


    Pseudo Interactive, the developing studio for the Full Auto games, has come to a halt and closed shop.

    Due to a budgeting issue caused by Eidos and SCi canceling a few of Pseudo's projects, the developers tried to push on, but inevitably couldn't continue any longer.

    I think that the devs from Pseudo will do just fine with the two Full Auto titles on their records, best of luck to em.





    -Undrallio


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