More Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Awesome. Just pure awesome. The Assassin's Creed series has always been one of my favorites. A little earlier, it was announced along with several movies by Ubisoft, check the post HERE. Anyway, Ubisoft decided to give us a little extra information on the game, releasing a teaser trailer and a couple more screenshots.

Here's the trailer. It's pretty awesome, though it doesn't give much of a plot or info about the game.

Also, they released a bunch of screenshots and a bit of art, seen below:

In terms of plot, they released a little bit, but not enough to spoil anything.

We're back with good ol' Ezio Auditore, running around Constantinople kicking some templars in the nuts. You'll get a bunch of new weapons and abilities, including the hookblade, as you can see in the first screenshot. You'll also be able to craft bombs and you'll have better eagle vision. There are also a couple of cool new locations like the Assassin's stronghold in the mountains. As I'm sure a lot of people hoped, Altaïr is also in the game as a playable character. There are of course a couple of other new NPC characters such as Prince Suleyman. And for even more good news, they said it would have a refined multiplayer with cool new game modes and whatnot.

In summary, this looks like it will be an awesome game.

Windows 8 to be released in 2012

Windows 8 isn't the official name, but Microsoft's CEO referred to it as such and claimed a 2012 release date. It may not be the end of Microsoft slapping random acronyms onto their software, or like Vista, just random words. Well, why should PC gamers care? Mostly because Microsoft claimed the new operating system would be a powerful gaming force, rather than a hindrance to it. They have been saying that for a while, but one of the more promising signs was Fable 3 being a proper PC game rather than a hasty port.

At this point it seems like the new thing in Windows 8 will be it's suitability for tablets, netbooks, and lower-end machines. We don't know much about what's to be in Windows 8 except for what few things we could find on very early leaked builds and test feedback. We assume it will be a ribbon-based interface, like the new Office 2011. It'll also have  native PDF and ISO reading, a new theme (as always) and, most tellingly, an app store. That could be good news for games, as long as it doesn't become a complete and utter disaster.


As Ballmer said at a Tokyo press conference, reports Develop, “As we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there’s a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.”


You can find various proto-screenshots of the new OS’s early, internal builds on the Windows Supersite, if you really want to.

MOAR MW3!

Yes, it seems that we have been blessed by a new trailer for MW3, this one containing clips from the actual game, though they're all scripted. Watch it below:

Well, it seems we're already on the road toward yet another Call of Duty game. Awesome.

It seems in the new game, there are still Russians, given the guy's accent, and there's just chaos all around the world, but mostly France, England, Germany, and of course, America. What else would you expect from a Modern Warfare title? Anyway, you can pre-order on STEAM, XBOX 360, and PS3.

PSN Network Cost

Remember a little while ago, when PlayStation Network was hacked and all the information stolen? Well, when they went over their yearly fiscal reports, they found that it cost them about 14 billion yen, or $171.4 million.


The estimated cost includes identity theft programs, the Welcome Back program, customer support, security improvements, legal experts, and revenue decreases. The cost doesn't include whatever future legal fees they'll pay when people file class-action lawsuits against Sony for losing their credit card numbers.

The Japanese earthquake actually caused even more damage, estimated at about 17 billion yen ($208.1 million). That was mostly decreased sales, along with life insurance provisions. But hey, I'm sure they'll recover. Eventually.

Week In Review

What a fun week, full of good news and bad news, though mostly the former.

A game 15 years in development, Duke Nukem: Forever (pre-purchase HERE) was announced, available June 14. Even though this created a bunch of bad flash spin-offs, it'll be worth it.

Another sequel to the beloved Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series has been announced, even though most thought that Modern Warfare 3 would never exist, and instead have another subtitle. Oh well, we'll live.

Fable 3 (buy HERE) was announced, along with The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (buy HERE) were released, making it a great week for fantasy games. Not only that, but Dragon Age 3 was also announced.

Quite a few FPSs were announced, including Arma 3, and MW3. In other FPS related news, Brink (buy HERE) was released.

Sadly, this week also brought bad news. Valve decided not to announce anything at this years E3 show, which is a huge disappointment, given how long we've been waiting for Half Life 3, or at least Episode 3.

I don't know if it's good or bad news because of previous video game movies, but Ubisoft announced movies for Assassins Creed, Splinter Cell, and Ghost Recon.

What an exciting week.

Dragon Age 3 Confirmed

On May 19, the BioWare senior director of creative development Alistair McNally tweeted THIS, saying, " I'm looking for exceptional environment artists to join me at #BioWare Edmonton, Canada to work on #DragonAge3" It's not much of a surprise, given how much marketing EA and BioWare have done for the Dragon Age franchise.

Not only that, but they also rolled out two full games and an enormous expansion in two years, so they definitely put a lot of work into it as well. This is the first we heard of the third game, so it's hard to tell if it will take as long as its predecessors or have a longer development cycle. Anyway, both of the main-series games have ended with cliffhangers, so maybe this title will tie up those loose ends.

Contemplative Platform Games

Stepping aside from kill-em-all type console games, I would like to review an amazing flash genre that I have found recently. I dub it “contemplative platformers,” because they always force me to keep my mind open and think.
One of these games is called “The Company of Myself,” and I strongly encourage anyone with a spare hour to try it out. The compelling storyline, along with the simple and creative gameplay and music tracks made this one game that had me absolutely hooked. This is a sort of “Chronotron” meets Harry Potter’s Sirius Black. The black-hatted protagonist has a loving but tormented soul, and he is unable to escape the traps that lay in his own mind. The game is so depressing at the climax, but the story invites you to immerse yourself in it.
Another beautiful flash platformer that everyone should play is “Loved.” It begins confusingly, and kind of throws you into the plot headfirst, but as you get oriented, you must make choices that may or may not be right. If you obey, all becomes simpler and easier. If you do not, the world blooms into color, but the game becomes difficult. At first, it seems like a simple flash platformer, but later on, the guiding voice takes on a somewhat more wistful yet sinister tone. This is another game that kept me thinking about the meaning of my short existence in this world.

However, if all of that did not persuade you to try this kind of game, at least give it a shot because neither game is very long, and they are playable for free. It costs neither your time nor money.

Links:
The Company of Myself on Kongregate, and Armor Games.
Loved on Kongregate, and Armor Games.

Arma III Announced

In the gaming industry, "announced" usually means all the media outlets are bombarded by emails from the developers, in this case BIS (Bohemia Interactive Studio). By some magic, their website update came before the press releases. Now instead of being bombarded by the studios, they were bombarded by the public. Anyway, let's get back on topic. This game looks pretty awesome, here's a brief overview, “After years of intense warfare against Eastern armies, Europe has become the last stand for the battered NATO forces. On the verge of being driven into the sea, NATO command embarks upon a most desperate measure. In the hope of seizing what seems to be a well-guarded military secret, Operation Magnitude is launched. A small group of Special Forces and Researchers are sent to a Mediterranean island deep behind enemy lines.”

Nothing has been released in terms of technical details, but the minimum requirments are Intel Core i5 or AMD Athlon Phenom X4 or faster, Shader 3 graphics card, and DX10 support. Bohemia Interactive´s CEO, Marek Spanel, said: ”We’re happy to bring the next generation of the Real Virtuality engine to life. The increased potential of the engine should allow Arma 3 to become our best-looking, most detailed and innovative military simulation game to date.” His colleague, Ivan Buchta, Creative Director of Arma 3, added: ”Our ambition is not only to deliver the next generation of Arma with the improved engine, but also to fully exploit the potential of our new technology in the gameplay. You can look forward to the unique experience of blending sandbox-style combat with a rich story.” 

Overall, this looks like it will be a great game, with beautiful graphics and an interesting and open ended storyline. But we will have to see for ourselves when it comes out in 2012. 

Anyway, Here's a list of key features:

Single-Player Campaign – Evolve from a lone prey into a military commander in the open-ended & story-driven campaign.
Vehicles & Weapons – Control a multitude of aircraft, vehicles and ships with accurate simulation; shoot anything from pistols to sophisticated weapon platforms.
Physical Simulation & Improved Animations – Take advantage of PhysX™ supported vehicle simulation, in-game interactions and the revamped animation system.
Rich & Authentic Environment – Explore an unsurpassed military combat experience set on an authentic Mediterranean island modelled from real geographic data.
Multiplayer Gameplay – Experience both cooperative & competitive scenarios with the full support of dedicated servers for both Windows and Linux.
Completely Extensible & Moddable – Design & create countless customizable scenarios using the intuitive & easy-to-use mission editor.
Customizable Soldier Load – Choose your uniform; assemble your weapon kit; change your load-out; get loaded up.

No new Valve games at E3 this year

For quite a while, people have been whispering around that Valve would announce Half-Life 2: Episode 3 at this year's E3 show. The long awaited (three years) sequel to Half-Life 2: Episode 2, has been continuously delayed ever since the start of development. Almost nothing is known about the game, and the public has been anxiously awaiting any slice of Gordon based info.

Sadly, Valve stated that, "We are not showing any titles at this year’s show." This is a huge disappointment, given the amount of hype the expected announcement has gotten. The only consolation is the recent release of Portal 2, available HERE. I also highly suggest buying the Orange Box HERE, or the Valve Complete Pack, HERE.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations being developed, movie planned

There are 6 studios, scattered across the globe, working on Assassin's Creed Revelations. These combine to make the largest development team ever used by Ubisoft. The 200 person team at Ubisoft Montreal will continue to be the lead team. The reason for the enormous amount of manpower needed is that, “This is a huge game,” explains creative director Alexandre Amancio ,”the amount of time and data that goes into all of these systems to build the game is tremendous. So it’s a cooperative venture. We have different studios cooperating on different elements of the game.” 

So far, they only released one screenshot, seen below:

The Paris-based Ubisoft Motion Pictures announced that they are currently creating an Assassin's Creed movie, based on the basic plot line overarching the three games. Not much else has been released, but the studio said they would have a script ready by the end of the year. They are also trying to keep the story mechanics as close to that of the game. One of their spokespeople said, "We want to keep ownership, retain control over the film content, and we're open to work with studios on the development of our projects, and eventually collaborate on the pre-casting, pre-budget and script."

Ubisoft Motion Pictures are also working on films for Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. There are a few more details about the soon to be released films HERE.

Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings released

After the original game was released in 2007, fans of Witcher have been anxiously awaiting the sequel. Now, after 4 years of intense development, Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has finally hit the shelves, available HERE.

The graphics in Witcher 2 are stunningly beautiful. They absolutely surpassed my expectations, even coming close to surpassing those from the trailers I've seen. The combat system has been completely revamped, so now you have to focus on the tactical aspect of fighting as well as the force aspect. The story was captivating, and combined with the amazing visuals, made it seem all the more real. One of the best aspects, coupled with the previous ones, is the non-linearity of the story, allowing you to play the game as you want to. This was one of the most enthralling games released this year.

Fable 3 Released

At long last Fable 3 has been released. After a good three years of development, the latest title of the Fable series is available to buy HERE for $49.99. If you pre-ordered, you got four exclusive weapons, The Champion, The Shardborne, The Channeler, and The Absolver. 

In this installment, based 50 years after Fable 2, Albion is in the midst of an industrial revolution, but the new ruler (your older brother), Logan, has become excessively tyrannical. You and others upset with his rule start a revolution, and you then become king. You then rule the land, building defenses, waiting for your brother and his allies to try to take back his kingdom. These allies include a nomadic tribe, generals from a remote fort, and a creature called the "Crawler, ruler of the Darkness." 


One of the more innovative features in this game is that you can use the treasury as you want, whether you use it for defense, your citizen's happiness, or your own, you can do what you want with it. Also, you can take several paths to the end of the game, anywhere from the altruistic to the satanically evil.

TF2 Comics

About a week ago, in honor of the Saxxy Awards, Valve released some TF2 comics, available HERE. The Saxxy Awards are like Oscars, but with TF2 clips. There are a bunch of different categories, for a total of 20 winners.

The story in the comic ends abruptly, but is to be continued during the Awards. I strongly suggest everyone submits an entry, and if you don't have TF2, you should absolutely buy it HERE.

Brink Released

Brink, a new first person shooter, just released by Bethesda Softworks, is available for purchase HERE.

This game is an amazing combination of concepts. It takes games like mirrors edge, and integrates the movement scheme into a first person shooter. Theres also a ridiculous amount of customization, helping you tune your character to near perfection. Bethesda even claims that you can create a total of 102 quadrillion unique character combinations, if you count the minor variations. It also incorporates SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain), which predicts character movement, making it easier to maneuver through complex environments. Overall, this game seems to incorporate quite a few new concepts, and could be seen as the new standard for innovation.

Modern Warfare 3 Trailers Leaked

Today, a huge announcement was leaked. Modern Warfare 3 in the development process. What. A. Shock. Well, not really.
Activision and Infinity Ward quickly confirmed the announcement and whipped up a few trailers you can watch HERE. Although theres nothing even close to gameplay in the trailers, it's an exciting prospect to see what becomes of this soon to be game. Hopefully, the dev teams will take their time and focus on quality. They could take a lesson from Halo Reach. They took three years to finish the game, but it was one of the greatest games ever made.

Not only was the announcement leaked, but also some major plot details and multiplayer maps. The story picks up where MW2 left off, and continues the fight against the Russians. You can find some more VERY spoiling spoilers HERE.

Duke Nukem Forever

After almost 15 years of development, Duke Nukem Forever is finally available for pre-purchase HERE.

The game had actually continued it's development through the years, despite numerous signs that development was moving backwards. For example, as newer trailers were released, less and less gameplay was shown, usually a sign of halting development. Nevertheless, the game powered through, finishing development and  will be released June 14, 2011.

Our hero Duke is back again, going after the aliens. The only new part of the game is also the most controversial. Instead of "capture the flag", the game mode is "capture the babe", which is like those annoying escort missions, but with a hot chick. The controversial part is that it was stated that they would sometimes stop and needed to be slapped for them to continue. That raised hell. Even after it was clarified that it was a "reassuring slap on the ass". But hey, still looks fun.

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