Lost Planet 2 To Get MP Demo Next Month

Capcom has announced that it will release a multiplayer demo next month for its upcoming action-adventure Lost Planet 2. The demo, which will be available on April 21st for Xbox 360 and April 22nd for PS3, will feature the ‘Turbulent Jungle’ map from the online versus mode, support upto 16 players and will be fitted with full chat support and stat tracking. The news comes via Capcom-Unity which goes as follows:

Prepare to be blown away by the latest Lost Planet 2 demo coming your way next week on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. Get ready to hop in a vital suit, grab some weapons and battle with 16 players in real time. Featuring the “Turbulent Jungle” map from the online versus mode, the new Lost Planet 2 demo will include full chat support and stat tracking. While the demo will be available publicly on April 21 for Xbox 360 and April 22 for PlayStation 3, Capcom’s most avid fans will get a sneak preview of this demo beginning March 31 via community-distributed voucher codes for early access. Keep an eye out for the availability of early access codes coming your way right here on Capcom-Unity!

And that’s not all. Capcom also announced that Lost Planet 2 will now release on May 11th, 2010, a whole week earlier than previously announced. Hmm, when was the last time we heard that? Oh, right, never have.

Lost Planet 2 is scheduled to arrive for the Xbox 360 and PS3, while the PC edition is slated to release sometime in Fall of 2010.

Screenshots from the upcoming demo:

Play with Hot Girls on GameCrush

Tired of battling nerdy thirteen year olds online? GameCrush lets you compete against hot girls for $6.60 per ten minutes. If you’re wondering who would actually pay for this service, the website claims that they’ve had to go offline as they received over 10,000 enquiries in five minutes. We expect a ban sign on the website, courtesy of your local ISP soon.

According to GameCrush:

GameCrush is the only online service that allows gamers to choose a companion to spice up their favorite online games. Both Players and PlayDates define the experience they want- either “flirty” or “dirty”, choosing from some of the most popular console titles and casual web-based games. To register for free, visit www.gamecrush.com.

On GameCrush, players can find their perfect PlayDate through browsing their profiles and chatting live with them. Players can then purchase a live one-on-one private gaming session, complete with two-way video and text chat.

Designed to appeal to female and male gamers alike, GameCrush offers games to suit a variety of tastes, from casual web-based games to the hottest console titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, Gears of War 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. Initially games are available on GameCrush’s own exclusive video-enabled gaming platform and on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE network. In addition, GameCrush will soon be available for platforms such as Sony’s PlayStation 3, World of Warcraft, and other online gaming environments.

GameCrush delivers comprehensive social tools that allow PlayDates to post profiles complete with picture galleries, video clips, blogs and text chat. PlayDates can make up to $30 or more per hour while having fun playing online games. After a game session is completed, Players rate their gaming experience, and top-rated PlayDates are rewarded with enhanced site promotion and additional benefits.

Here’s a video of the site:

COD: Modern Warfare 2 ‘Stimulus Pack’ New Screens

Activision releases some shots from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2′s first downloadable content, the ‘Stimulus Pack’. The map pack will contain a total of five maps, out which three of them will be new – Bailout, Storm and Salvage – while two of them – Crash and Overgrown – make a return from the previous Modern Warfare game.

The ‘Stimulus Pack’ will carry a price of 1200 Microsoft Points (i.e $15 approx) and is scheduled to release with an initial-exclusivity to the Xbox 360 sometime today.

Supreme Commander 2 v1.4 Patch Available

A new patch for Gas Powered Games’ latest RTS, Supreme Commander 2, is now available for download via Steam. The patch updates the game to v1.4 bringing in a slew of bug fixes and fine tuning game balance. Here is the complete changelog:

Fixes and Improvements

• Space Temple beacon now has cool-down timer set to 30 seconds before it can be moved.
• Anti-nuke fix: Anti-nukes will never fire more than one anti-nuke off at a single enemy nuke.
• Fixed sorting issue with password entry overlay, remaining background is now grayed out.
• Non-host Gamer-tags now displaying correctly in multi-player lobbies.
• LightFX enable/disable added to the advanced video options (for Alienware setups).
• Fixed bug where bringing the in game score would error out when observers were present.
• Fixed start position images on the skirmish menu.
• Added color codes for the ping numbers.
• Updated chat team chat text format. Team text now cycles when the check box status changes instead of when text is sent.
• Overcharge was incorrectly being affected by ACU Training 3. It no longer is.

Tuning and Balance
Cybran/Illuminate Mass Fabs

• Changing prerequisite for Cybran Mass Fabricator to Shield Generator.
• Increasing Illuminate Mass Fabricator Research cost to 6 RP.

Space Temple range

• Increasing Space Temple range from 500 to 700.

Artillery

• UEF Artillery RP reduced from 8 to 6. Cost reduced to 800m/2800e.
• Cybran Artillery RP reduced from 9 to 8. Cost reduced to 750m/2750e.

Transports

• Reducing Health from 4000 to 3000.
• Increased Energy cost from 430 to 600.
• Decreased Regen from 11 to 5.

Kraken Torpedo DPS

• Increasing damage from 50 to 200.

As usual, the patch will be applied on your next Steam client restart.

MAG Review

They say there’s a fine line between being brave and being very stupid. A few months ago, if you’d asked me if 256 players could play a gorgeous looking First Person Shooter game lag-free on PSN, I would have written off such an attempt as being the latter. However, Zipper Interactive manages to take on this challenge with commendable results. Massive Action Game (MAG) is unique on many counts. Other than the fact that it allows up to 256 players to play online simultaneously, it is also a purely multiplayer game and you will need a PSN account to play the game.

In the world of MAG, nations have agreed to maintain peace by limiting their armed forces and agreeing not to attack beyond their boundaries. While this agreement delivers a forced peace between nations, it leads to the emergence of Private Military Corporations (henceforth called PMCs). Since nations cannot uses their own military forces, they employ PMCs to do their dirty work and this in turn leads to a war amongst PMCs for military contracts. Three primary powers emerge amongst the PMCs – The Raven, Valor and SVER. Raven consists of high-tech forces from Western Europe with advanced equipment, Valor consists of troops with better military gear and excellent communication skills, and finally, SVER is a band of soldiers from the Middle East, Russia and parts of Asia. In the game, you must join one of these opposing factions and help your side gain the upper hand over its competitors.

It doesn’t really matter which side you choose as they’re quite evenly matched. Once you start the game, you’re treated to a quick tutorial mission that teaches you the basics. Once you’ve worked through the tutorial, you’re set to join the war of the PMCs. You start off by playing suppression and sabotage missions. These are 64 player battles to hone your skills. Here you gain XP and level up, in order to gain access to the next level of battles.

The only real waiting times (apart from the occasional software update) you’re going to experience in the game is when you join a battle. You’ll have to wait till the battle fills up with the required number of players and from our experience this took up to 10 minutes where you’re left with little else to do but stare at the left hand side of the screen waiting for the dots representing players joined to fill up so that the battle can proceed.

Once you’re in the game though, you’ll find that it was worth the wait. Even if you’re playing with just 32 players on your team, it still seems like an epic battle. The game is incredibly fluid and even with a 1mbps connection the game is almost lag free and we’ll have to give top points to Zipper Interactive for this achievement. The graphics are surprisingly good and while it may lack the depth of Modern Warfare 2, it does feature some well-rendered characters and scenic terrain.

You’re armed with the standard set of weaponry ranging from rifles to grenades. You can switch your primary and secondary weapons depending on whether you prefer close combat or ranged sniping. As you progress through the game and earn points, you can upgrade your weapons. There is a weapon limit though – a good thing as you don’t really want super soldiers with all the best weapons owning you every time you play the game.

At the root of it all, MAG is a pure multiplayer game and like all multiplayer games, your gaming experience will depend on the other players you play the game with. Yes, there’ll be the occasional rogue idiot who decides to go Rambo on his own and gets killed, rather than sticking with the team. Yes, there will be plenty of noobs who bog your team down. But by and large, there are usually a good amount of players who’ll respect teamwork and help provide a decent gaming experience. They game’s point-based system also encourages players to abide by the rules and help out teammates.

You can also amass leadership points by completing certain objectives within the game. Gain enough leadership points and you’ll be on your way to commanding your team. Leadership positions are hard to come by though and you’ll have to work really hard to get to that point. Expect many months of gameplay before you get to that level.

Overall, MAG is certainly a technical achievement and probably one of the most fun multiplayer experiences you’ll have on PSN. Like most multiplayer games though, it depends a lot on what you and all the other players make of it. If you enjoy multiplayer game, you’ll love MAG, else you might just find it taxing and repetitive.

Rappelz Expansion Pack ‘Resurrection’ Now Available

Press release:
Game Power 7 is pleased to announce the launch of Resurrection, the next expansion of the first Arabic MMORPG Rappelz. As the adventure becomes intense and more challenging with the addition of the new quests, the opening of the new PvP zone, and challenging quests and fantastic new creatures, Arabic Rappelz is ready for all players who want to join the latest version of this epic combat game.

Enabling PvP combats up to 64 opponents at the same time, the death match zone becomes the stage for merciless battles and an endless source of energy.

The new creatures – reminiscent of ancient times – will bring a breath of fresh air to the lands of Arabic Rappelz. The White Unicorn, with its endless healing power and fidelity to its master, the Dark Soul with its lava-like flames to scare its enemies, and the Mystic Genie with the power of commanding winds will welcome high level players to the adventure.

For upcoming surprises prepared by Game Power 7 team, visit the Arabic Rappelz website on http://rappelz.gamepower7.com  or follow us on our twitter page  http://twitter.com/arabicrappelz or facebook page http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=195823&id=1751032582#!/group.php?gid=41556849929

PS3 v3.21 Firmware To Remove OS Install

Sony has announced a new firmware update for the PS3, updating the software to v3.21. The new firmware update, which will be available on April 1, 2010, will remove the ‘install Other OS’ feature that was available on systems prior to the PS3 slim. “Security reasons” were cited to “help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system.”

Users and organization that are currently running Linux-based OS on the PS3 can choose not to update, however, the following features will no longer be available to them:

• Ability to sign in to PlayStation Network and use network features that require signing in to PlayStation Network, such as online features of PS3 games and chat
• Playback of PS3 software titles or Blu-ray Disc videos that require PS3 system software version 3.21 or later
• Playback of copyright-protected videos that are stored on a media server (when DTCP-IP is enabled under Settings)
• Use of new features and improvements that are available on PS3 system software 3.21 or later

And in case if you were wondering, no, this is not an April Fool’s joke. Why would Sony joke about removing a feature which only about 1% of users actually use?

Source: PS3 Blog

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Review

Even before reading this review, if you’re already thinking that this is just Mario Kart with Sega characters, then, well… you’re right. But in it’s defense, it’s actually quite good. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing’s cast include characters from titles such as Sonic, Virtua Fighter, House of the Dead, Super Monkey Ball and Samba De Amigo. They’re all rather cutesy, even the serious characters like the ones from Virtua Fighter.

You start off the game with a set of characters that you can choose to play. Most of them play alike, so it doesn’t really matter who you choose. The difference in the way the handle is rather minor and the differences are largely aesthetic. As you progress and score points, you’ll have access to more unlockable characters. Each character does have one special move though, so there is a slight advantage to picking the right character.

Like Mario Kart, this game is more about the gameplay then anything else. The levels are beautifully designed and if you’ve grown up playing Sega games, you’ll appreciate the hint of nostalgia it offers. The controls in the game are incredibly fluid and that’s what makes it so much fun to play. There’s loads of power ups scattered throughout every level that will give you an edge over your opponents. These include speed boosts to help you speed past your opponents, missiles to faze those in front of you or mines to drop on opponents who are catching up to you. You also have the ability to drift in the game and the longer you drift the bigger a speed boost you receive.

The action in the game is fast paced and winning usually means trying to go as fast as you can, avoid enemy attacks, pick up power ups to give you an advantage and try to get a few cool drift moves in as well as good measure. With all that going on, the game is anything but boring.

The single player game has a variety of modes to choose from including a quick single race, a grand prix and mission mode. The Grand Prix is divided into four races – win each race and you accumulate certain points. Your scores on all four races adds up to determine your position in the grand prix. In the mission mode, you have to finish the race while competing specific tasks, which can range from finishing in the first position to earning drift points.

The multiplayer mode features quick single races and can be quite challenging if you meet skilled opponents online. Sadly, there’s no Grand Prix mode online which is a bit of a shame, as an online ranking mode would have been great in this game.

Overall, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing may not win any points for originality but it does score top points for it’s fun-filled races and fluid controls. If you’re not interested in exercising your brain cells and simply want an easy game to wind down to, this comes highly recommended.

Mega Man 10 Review

In 2008 Capcom and Inti-Create surprised the gaming world when they released Mega Man 9 (their first of the series on current-gen consoles). I say “surprised” because the game was made to look and play exactly like the old NES 8-bit Mega Mans and sported the same devilish difficulty. This year they released their 2010 follow up, aptly entitled, Mega Man 10. Seeing no reason to deviate from the classic-hardcore-gaming path, Mega Man 10 is more of the same with a few noteworthy additions (and a peculiar omission).

In this outing, the world has been swept with a virus known as Roboenza, infecting robots and causing them to go berserk. When Roll (Mega Man and Dr. Light’s female robot assistant and friend) comes down with a case of Roboenza, Mega Man must save the day once again by defeating the crazed robots and retrieving the antidote-making machine.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, Mega Man plays like your classic 2D side-scroller. Your abilities are limited to shooting and jumping, but everytime you defeat a robot boss – you are rewarded with a new weapon. These new weapons come in handy as they provide alternate attack types that, when appropriately used, can make your life a little easier.
For anyone familiar with the series, it will come as no surprise that Mega Man is a difficult game, even on the default “Normal” difficulty level. Finishing the game on “Normal” unlocks the “Hard” difficulty level which is reserved for the truly hardcore. While much of Mega Man’s appeal is directly linked to its notorious difficulty, Inti-Create has added a new feature – Easy Mode (perhaps to appeal to a wider audience). While playing on Easy, you will immediately notice that this mode was intentionally made to be very very simple. Each level can be finished quickly and with relative ease, and if you consider the abundance of 1UPs available – It is unlikely that you will see the Game Over screen before completing the game. By making Easy Mode so simple, the developers have actually forced gamers looking for even a mild challenge to tough-up and play the game as it was meant to be.

Another addition is the ability to play as Proto Man from the start (he was a downloadable character in MM9). Proto Man offers some gameplay variations as his cannon can be charged and he has the ability to slide under obstacles. He is also able to block pellets in mid-air, which is something he will need since he suffers from double the damage Mega Man does. Although Proto Man is a welcome addition, he doesn’t really challenge Mega Man for the spotlight. The core experience is undoubtedly playing as the Blue Bomber at the difficulty level intended.

Graphically, one cannot really judge this game without considering Inti-Create’s intentions and objective. As with Mega Man 9. they have done a great job of capturing the essence of the old Mega Man games. It doesn’t really mimic as much as recreate the spirit of the old games while maintaining some character of its own. The enemy designs may not be as inspired as some of the earlier installments however they do not really disappoint. My one notable complaint in this department is the decision to remove the widescreen aspect-ratio option altogether. Considering our current era of HD gaming, the majority of TVs are now widescreen displays and so the majority of our games (Mega Man 9 included) run at the widescreen aspect ratio (16X9). With Mega Man 10 however, the developers have gone even more retro by insisting the game runs in the old standard (4X3) aspect ratio, resulting in two columns of wasted TV real-estate. In addition, they have ‘decorated’ these borders with needlessly cluttered graphics that often distract from the game. There is no option to leave the border black, nor is there an option to run the game at fullscreen. Nevertheless, the game still looks charmingly nostalgic. And speaking of nostalgia, Mega Man 10 also boasts a soundtrack that is on par with some of the great 8-bit Mega Man tunes from the past, making it an old-school treat in almost all departments.

Naturally, the game may alienate many of the younger gamers as its appeal relies heavily on nostalgia. However Mega Man 10 goes beyond just reminding you of the good ol‘ days and offers an engaging and challenging experience in itself. It may not be a significant improvement over Mega Man 9 but the formula still works… for now at least.

Half Life 2 Voice Actor Passed Away

We have a bit of sad news, folks. Robert Culp, famed celebrity of 1960′s TV series ‘I Spy’ and the voice actor for Dr. Wallace Breen of Half Life 2 has died.

Culp, 79, died after falling on a sidewalk near a Los Angeles park said his publicist, Dick Delson. His career spanned for more than 50 years in TV and films. His recent work was playing Bill Maxwell in the 2007′s animated film Robot Chicken.

A sad loss to not only the movie industry but also the gaming industry. RIP.

« Previous Page — Next Page »