A few days later than expected, and with a throat that feels like it's been coated with sandpaper, here's your weekly Video games round-up.
Starting off today's round-up there's news of two seperate legal wrangles currently making their way through the court systems. First is the news that Rocksmith's European release will be delayed into 2012 after it emerged that there is a band with the same name who aren't happy with being fobbed off by Ubisoft. According to Chris Ford, the percussionist for the UK group Rocksmith, the band even took the first step and contacted Ubisoft regarding their concerns over the naming of the new Music game, and trying to sort out a solution moving forward.
Eurogamer quote Mr Ford as saying that "there's nothing I've said that can't be backed up with absolute fact. I've got documents proving that I registered the name." Seems fairly cut and dry to me...
Next up is the news that Mojang have won an interim injunction against Zenimax/Bethesda and can continue to use the Scrolls title for their new game until the action goes to court. In a tweet on his official @notch account, Markus Persson said "We won the interim injunction! We can keep using the name "Scrolls". Zenimax/Bethesda can still appeal the ruling, but I'm very happy :D" Frankly it's ridiculous that Bethesda could even contemplate suing over any concern that the Title "Scrolls" infringes on their Elder Scrolls property, but i guess lawyers will be lawyers...
In happier news it appears that Blizzard have been raising money for charity while giving their rabid MMO fanbase a keep sake of their gaming past. On October 17th Blizzard began auctioning off server blades that used to house their long running World of Warcraft MMO. All in all, four seperate auctions were planned with all money raised going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. With around 2000 blades up for sale, each with their own special presentation case, that's a lot of money for a very deserving cause.
Good news for all UK Sony fans now, it was announced by Jim Ryan who explained "PlayStation Vita is an incredible device that offers the best possible portable gaming experiences." That's fancy talk designed to make the price sound reasonable, in case you didn't know. To be fair to Sony, the price for the PS Vita is actually reasonable compared to other tech out there right now. At £229.99 for the Wifi only and £279.99 for the 3G enabled models you get plenty of technology for your money including the now famous rear touch screen, front touch screen and massive horse power the processor affords it. February 22nd is the official release date for PlayStation's latest hand held, and with only a £50 gap in price it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people end up going 3G.
While we're talking Portable Sony devices it would be remiss of me not to mention the ever expanding roster of double packs making their way to PSP. For $15 US gamers can pick up the Mega Man Maverick Hunter X/Mega Man Powered Up or Monster Hunter Freedom Unite/Monster Hunter 2 packs. Absolute bargain right there.
More HD remake goodness is heading our way sometime next year, with Capcom confirming that they are working on a remastered HD bundle containing Devil May Cry 1,2 and 3. Not only that, but it will be available on PS3 and XBox 360. That's right, Microsoft fans can play it on their console too. Not happy to leave it there Capcom have also confirmed a RRP of just $40 for the collection!
Everybody knows that the best kind of shit is free shit, and thanks to Zen Studios you can download Pinball FX2 absolutely free of charge between October 26th and November 2nd. Not only that but you can also get the new Paranormal table layout for free at the same time. A round of applause for Zen studios please ladies and gents.
This next item may not be free, but it is awesome. On the heels of the Portal 2 knee socks (see what I'm doing there) comes one of the cutest little plushies I've seen (at least since Kon of Bleach fame). Seriously, take a look. Turret's never looked so cutesy.
Right, we have a shed load of Arkham City stories this week. First up is the news that Gamestop might be giving away Catwoman DLC with every used copy of the game that they sell. Obviously this benefits the retailer as their overheads on used games are much lower than new software, but from the developers point of view this is the worst thing that Gamestop could possibly have done. Kotaku report that an anonymous tipster sent them an internal memo detailing plans that all used copies sold would have a code for the Catwoman downloadable content printed on the receipt. This has since been confirmed with a retail branch by the Video games site.
Fans of the Batman Beyond TV series will be able to download a free skin of the futuristic not-so-caped crusader if they drink enough NOS energy drink. Although the skin will be available as regular DLC later on, fans of the Fast and Furious styled energy drink will get the attire once they complete the single player or play any of the challenge maps. To be honest i always thought that the Beyond version of Batman was a bit lame, but then, I love impractical capes.
PC gamers will finally get hold of Arkham City on November 18th, the delay is apparently due to the team working on the PC port wanting to fix some bugs before they ship the final product. Good for them i say, patching post release is something i really detest, but it's a growing trend as developers look to meet release schedules.
While players on the console versions of Arkham City might not have many bugs to contend with they are having trouble with DLC, namely the free DLC included in the box. Reports range from codes not working at all, to doubling up on certain pieces of DLC and in some cases Code cards included being completely blank! The Warner Bros twitter account has promised news as soon as they work out a solution, with a cryptic message pointing towards Catwoman being the first to be solved, claiming that players "will get to play as the sexy thief,"
Now then, PS3 owners out there, and i myself am included among your numbers, will know only too well how annoying it can be to turn your console on for a quick session, only to be told you need to run a firmware update before continuing. Sony seem to have finally realised this inconvenience and as a result Firmware Update 3.73, which fixes software stability issues will be completely optional. No doubt other firmware updates will be mandatory depending on what they address, but it's nice to have a choice on this one at least.
What news of EA? I hear you ask, okay i didn't physically hear you, but you must be wondering surely? well the pre-order figures for Battlefield 3 are in, and they're mightily impressive. EA have stated that pre-orders currently stand at over "a couple of million" while participation in the Beta has apparently topped 8 million users according to a graphic on the Battlefield 3 blog. wowzers.
Also hot off the presses from EA is the news that they have filed 2 trademark requests for the title "Prison Kings". Trademark applications for an Online game, as well as downloadable computer game software have both been made but any other clue as to the type of game it will be aren't forthcoming at the moment. Personally I enjoyed the prison sections of Fight Night Champion, so a re-imagining of the Knockout Kings brand set in the prison system would be an interesting take on the fighting game genre. Either that or we're going to get a bully style prison game with online components.
Finally, here's your UK top ten selling games on all platforms for the week ending October 15th
Forza Motorsport 4
FIFA 12
Just Dance 3
Rage
Pro Evolution Soccer 12
Gears of War 3
Dark Souls
Zumba Fitness
F1 2011
Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge
The might of FIFA 12 has finally been vanquished! After two weeks in pole position EA's football sim has been outsold by Turn 10's ode to the motor vehicle. What makes this even more impressive is that Forza 4 was released on Friday the 14th, meaning that in 24 hours it sold more copies than FIFA did in an entire 7 day period. True enough most people that wanted FIFA would have bought it inside the first two weeks, but no other game on the top ten this week, including Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, has managed to beat EA's sales.
Good to see once again that Dark Souls is in the top ten, while F1 2011 and GoW3 also hang around the list. Surprise surprise, Zumba fitness is still selling well. I'm beginning to think that Wet wet wet had the right idea when they withdrew Love is all around from sale after they got sick of being number 1. Take note Majesco entertainment...
Right, that'll do for today, I'm going back to bed to die quietly.
It's Monday which can mean only two things. One, you just had your first day back at work after a weekend that felt about as short as Wayne Rooney's temper, and Two, It's time for another Monday Round-up.
In what has to be one of the quickest U-turns in recent memory Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has announced that Qwikster is dead in the water. Going forward there will be only one account, one password and one service, be it through the post or by way of streaming.
Hastings posted this message on the Netflix blog this morning - "It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVD", "This means no change: one website, one account, one password... in other words, no Qwikster."
Victory for common sense and keeping things simple!
Listeners of the Killer Keyboard Podcast will be aware of a little game by the name of "The Binding of Isaac" which is being played by our very own Tim Regan. It's an interesting concept for a game, begging the question "just how big can a basement actually be?" but also has some really neat ideas in the gameplay department such as the idea of having only one life per play-through. Anyone who is curious about the game can now play a free Flash based version of the game on the newsgrounds website, while those who already own the game, including Mr Regan, can look forward to a free update set for release this Halloween via steam.
The update is set to include 20 more items, 3 extra bosses, a new playable character, extra achievements and a new final chapter for anyone who has completed the game already.
Edmund McMillen, who as part of Team Meat created Isaac as well as Super Meat Boy, said of the Halloween update - "This 2nd update is more or less my dream update, something i wanted to be able to do for release but knew it would push the game back another month to get done, so in a way on the 31st Isaac will become exactly what i wanted to release but didn't have the time to finish."
Team Meat are right up there with Valve in my estimations at the moment, let's hope they keep producing original and high quality games like this.
Two pieces of news this week in regards to the aforementioned Valve studios. First off we have this brilliantly edited video that shows just how badly things could go for you hipsters out there if iPhone's new "Siri" voice recognition system goes more the way of "GLaDOSiri". Personally i can't wait for the GLaDOS option to hit the App store...
Also of note is the news that Brandon Jones recently managed to put together a demo of Team Fortress 2 running (or at least rendering) on a web browser. As if this game wasn't accessible enough. If the Unreal Engine can run on Flash 11 there seems little reason why TF2 can't make the move to Flash soon.
Get ready for more Hats!
Xperia Play might not be setting the world of mobile gaming on fire right now, but Sony haven't given up on it quite yet. Sony have partnered with EA to make four titles available for absolutely free during the holiday period. Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dead Space, NfS: Shift and NfS: Hot Pursuit will all be made free to download during the Thanksgiving break right up until January 15th next year. That should keep the dozens of Xperia owners happy...
And if that doesn't then maybe the announcement of Minecraft: Pocket Edition being released on Android will. On October 7th Carl Manneh, the managing director of Mojang, tweeted that the Android release of Minecraft was finally available for download on the Android Marketplace, having originally been slated for a late September release. Owners of Android platforms can now download a free demo of the game to see how well it will run before stumping up the $6.99 (£4.29) it costs for the retail version.
Bad news for XBox 360 owners who love their "Gears" after an influx of reports from gamers complaining that their game was freezing and/or crashing when they try to load a game mode. It appears to be confined to split screen Horde mode and makes one of the users profiles unusable in game.
Epic games are currently trying to resolve the issue, telling Joystiq.com that "Getting this resolved is a priority for Epic. We are collecting information internally, sourcing as much as possible from the community and exploring potential fixes. We do not have any recommendations to share with players just yet."
In other XBox 360 news, it would appear that the Fall dashboard update will be hitting on November 25th. According to GIGAom, Microsoft is targeting a Black Friday launch for the update which includes the Live TV functionality reported in last weeks Round-up as well as Bing universal search and Kinect functionality. Interestingly XBox TV partners are favouring the use of Apple's H.264 encoded video over Microsoft's own smooth streaming system, that's a bit of a kick in the nuts if you ask me, but if it works then who cares?
We have Skyrim news!
The above image is apparently the world map for the upcoming Elder Scrolls title and points to the in game world being every bit as expansive as you could have hoped. Revealed at the Igromir Expo in Russia, no i have no idea what that is either, but according to sources every attendee got a copy of said map to take away with them. here's the map translated into English, you can click it to zoom in and drink up "ye olde worlde mappe goodenesse"
Right then, for any Nintendo geeks out there it;s time to hold onto your Virtual boys and baton down your 3DS's. Nintendo have announced that a new Wii bundle will be released in conjunction with the release of Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games this November.
As you can see from the above picture it's...well...It's Blue. It's also one of the new versions of Nintendo's best selling console, meaning that you won't be playing any Gamecube titles on this powder blue relic, oh for god's sake, it isn't even the same colour as Sonic!
Time to wrap it up as we always do, with the UK's Top ten best selling games on all formats for the week ending October 8th.
1.FIFA 12 2.Rage 3.Dark Souls 4.Gears of War 3 5.F1 2011 6.Zumba Fitness 7.Dead Island 8.Deus Ex: Human Revolution 9.Lego Pirates of the Caribbean 10.Resistance 3
So FIFA makes it 2 weeks at number one, leaving everything and everyone in it's titanic wake. No surprises there then. Rage makes a solid début at No.2 while Dark Souls surprises many, including myself by reaching the No.3 spot. Zumba somehow continues to sell well despite the fact that everyone and their aunt must own a copy by now while games like Dead Island, Deus Ex and Resistance 3 all manage to stay in the top ten best sellers.
Seeing a game like Dark Souls doing so well in the chart this week makes me both happy, and optimistic, that gaming hasn't turned away from hardcore titles. While Zumba may well represent all that I despise in gaming, there are plenty of people out there who still like to get their arses kicked regularly and then ask "Please sir, can i have some more?" Props to any of you that bought the sequel to Demons Souls, you're encouraging developers to continue to make great games that challenge the player on several levels.
It's a few days later than expected but non the less here's the weekly edition of the Round-up for all you gamers out there.
Don't you just love getting things for free? I know i do, which is why Valve continue to be in my good books after they released the third volume of "Music To Test By" the official soundtrack for their smash hit game Portal 2. Along with a free download of all three volumes, the official site also has promotional videos, posters and ringtones available for fans of the game. You can follow this link to the free goodness that our masters at Valve have provided for us, just click on the Download link at the top of the Portal 2 home page...
While on the subject of Valve's portal based puzzle game the new DLC pack entitled "Peer Review" featuring a new test track and everyone's favourite homicidal AI, GLaDOS, is now available on PSN, XBL and Steam for free. Once again Valve show that they know how to keep the fans happy. And if by any chance you haven't picked the game up yet i have more happy news for you, as Valve have made Portal 2 available on Steam for half price, get them while they're hot!
Any gamer who wants more graphically impressive games on Facebook or Google + may have lucked out after Epic and Adobe announced at the ADOBE MAX conference that Unreal Engine 3 will support Flash Player 11, even going as far as to demonstrate a version of Unreal Tournament 3 running on flash. impressive, but it's still not going to get me playing Mafia Wars...
Regular readers of this Blog may recall i had a go on Resident Evil: Revelations a while ago, and while i wasn't all that happy with the controls it was a graphically impressive title that showed just what 3DS is capable of. Obviously that build was some way from complete since Capcom recently announced that North America will see the game released on February 7th, that's still a way off so hopefully the controls can be tweaked between now and then.
From one Zombie game to another now, as it was announced by SEGA that Yakuza: Of the End will be seeing a release in the West under the new name Yakuza: Dead Souls. Gamers familiar with the Yakuza series will see a different side to the franchise in this instalment as they try to survive the Zombie hoard rather than beating up rival gangsters. It's an interesting spin on the standard Yakuza stories of the past so here's hoping it does well.
Ah the dead...that reminds me.
Team Bondi are officially no more after documents were filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the company entered administration. Production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell has reportedly bought the studios assets, but fear not LA Noire fans, Take-Two still hold some rights to the game that should have heralded a bright future for the now defunct Australian developer, and given the number of copies it sold will be giving a sequel the green light at some point.
Seven years huh? way to fuck it up Mr McNamara...
It is a truth, universally recognised, that code based validation of video games is a stinking turd of an idea that leaves little good will between gamers and games makers. There's no arguing that developers need to protect their investment, and that the people that spend hundreds of hours honing the games that we play deserve recompense for all the hard work and effort they put into the game, but Sony's Online Pass and EA's Project $10 as i have heard it referred to by some people are the worst way to do it.
Why am i writing about this? Well it turns out that Resistance 3 was only the first game in Sony's first party catalogue that will have an Online Pass included with it. Uncharted 3 will also include one of these wonderful little codes which SCEE/SCEA claimed to be "an important initiative as it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhancing premium online services across our first party game portfolio."
Bull shit.
Sony's online infrastructure is, has been and will be for some time yet, a pile of Crap. Just admit to what this really is, a way of making more money from people that buy their games second hand because new ones are too expensive. I'll get back to that particular point later on... The implication here is that any first party game with online functions from now on will have a code included with it.
Gentlemen, start your keyboards.
Microsoft's Major Nelson has released a list of Xbox 360's TV partners, essentially listing which TV channels we can expect to have access to when the Fall update hits "This Holiday 2011" with regard to the release date, vague doesn't really cover it does it?
Last but not least here's the new UK Top 10 best sellers on all platforms
1. FIFA 12 2. Gears of War 3 3. F1 2011 4. Zumba Fitness 5. Dead Island 6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution 7. Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection 8. Driver: San Francisco 9. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean 10. Call of Duty: Black Ops
People of the UK, you disgust me. How on earth are you still buying Zumba Fitness!?
On the other hand the rest of the top ten looks rather respectable, FIFA 12 is somewhat inevitably at number 1, more on that in a moment, while GoW3 and F1 2011 round out the top 3. Driver is still hanging around the top ten dropping two places from 6 to 8 and it's great to see the Team Ico Collection getting some love. The continued sales of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean are confusing while it was no surprise that with CoD and Battlefield around the corner CoD:Black Ops has seen a rise in sales.
So FIFA 12 is number 1? It didn't exactly take a crystal ball to figure that one out, but the rate at which it's sold is startling. On the list of all time début weeks It's third behind CoD: BlOps and Modern Warfare 2, beating GTA4 down into fourth. Given that last year EA claimed that FIFA 11 was their fastest seller ever it seems clear that FIFA 12 will not only dwarf that record but most likely it's on target to become the quickest selling sports game of all time. EA estimates put week 1 sales of FIFA 12 at some 3.2 million copies meaning that it's up on last years release at the same point by roughly 20-25%
As i said, Startling.
Even more surprising though is the fact that in almost every shop that sells the game it's retail price is £42.99. Now I'm no cheapskate, but it seams to be a cynical move on either EA's part or on the part of the retailers. Knowing that the game would sell out on day one, they put prices up by an extra £3 on the normal retail price for a current generation game, which for the longest time has stood at £39.99. HMV actually made a big deal of the fact that they were selling the game at £39.99, the price the game should have been to start with.
This isn't the first time that the Market has been manipulated by EA and the retailers though. Back in 2010 during the world cup in South Africa you couldn't find a copy of FIFA 10, used or new, in any store. Instead you could only buy FIFA World Cup 2010, the same game as FIFA 10 but with World Cup branding etc. I'm sick of being treated like cattle by these big companies, but unfortunately the majority just go along with it.
I've tried the Demo for FIFA 12 and I'm not buying, admittedly I'm a bit of a PES fan boy, but this year EA have taken defending and turned it into an impossible challenge, aiming more at people who can already play the previous instalments of the game rather than trying to be inclusionary to the rest of us. The rest of the game is fine, but they made learning the game too hard for me to jump ship, plus PES is easy as hell to patch with real Kits, and that's really the only thing FIFA has over Konami's game most years, in my book anyway...
Greetings and welcome, once again, to the Monday round-up from Game for a Laugh.
BioWare announced today that they'll be opening a customer service center in sunny Galway, Ireland. The intention is that the 400 staff at the newly christened "BioWare Ireland" will help the launch of the new Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, go as smoothly as possible in Europe.
Dr. Ray Muzyka, the BioWare CEO, was keen to see the new center employ a wide range of European nationalities to help diversify the help they could offer potential players. he stated that “MMO launches are complex, and we are determined to set a new standard for a high quality, stable, smooth launch for our fans. Our new BioWare facility and team in Galway is critical to ensuring we deliver on that goal. We’ve got a solid base of people here already in Galway . . . we’re looking for more. From Ireland . . . from the rest of Europe to support our German and French customers . . . from all over the world. We want you to join us here at BioWare Ireland.”
Dr. Greg Zeschuk added that "the BioWare team is responsible for 24/7 support of the game and every player subscribed to it.”
The site currently has a staff of 200 although that number is certain to swell leading up to the launch of the game on December 20th in America, and December 22nd in Europe.
On a personal note, i fully expect WrestleView International Desk Host Darragh O'Connor to be aplying for a job with Bioware as i type.Sup Darragh!
Most will agree that as much freedom as Deus Ex: Human Revolution gave you in general game play, it was woefully short of options when it came time to take on the bosses. Listeners to the Killer Keyboard podcast will know that Nick Rose took issue with this very point, and it would appear that Eidos Montreal agree.
The latest DLC to be released for Deus Ex, The Missing Link, was developed completely in-house by Eidos Montreal and marks a departure from the one dimensional boss battles that players of the game have experienced so far, reports Eurogamer.
Marc-Andre Dufort, the producer of The Missing Link DLC pack says, "You can actually not kill the boss. You can do a non-lethal takedown on him. And you can kill him from afar. You can even kill him without him seeing you. It's more of a bigger challenge than a standard boss fight like we have in many games."
Be nice if there was a patch that made all the Boss battles so variable, but there's most likely a good reason why that hasn't been fixed. This is, at least, a step in the right direction.
The above is allegedly a patent from Microsoft for a new modular "slider style" mobile phone. Those of you with sharp eyes may have noticed the QWERTY keyboard, controller pad, an extra battery pack and camera film modules (no idea what the camera film is supposed to be although the patent states that it's a second display screen). While this seems like quite a clunky solution to the dedicated controller problem that most SM-ONES have these days, it does at least show that someone out there thinks that real buttons are better than touch screen for some applications.
There's no guarantee that this will be the next Windows phone, but certainly many will see this as a potential rival to the Sony Xperia Play.
Leading on from the future of hand held gaming, there's been a new peripheral released for the 3DS, and no, this one doesn't give you a second circle pad...
Well, it gives you longer play time, and no-one would argue that the grip would make the console easier to hold, but who's honestly going to buy one of these? Plus I'm trying very hard not to cram a bunch of innuendo into this part so we'll finish that story there I think.
Who am I kidding, it can make you go twice as long and prevents your hand cramping up, i must have one! mmm, innuendo...
While I'm on the topic of Nintendo, they'll be releasing a black Wii Fit plus Bundle in the UK on October 7th for the rather reasonable price of £99. I'm not sure that a change of colour will convince anyone without a Wii to buy one now, but I'm sure a few people with the White version will trade it in for a Black version. If i might paraphrase an old saying: Once you go black, sales fall off rapidly.
You'd be forgiven if you'd never heard of this game, but Ubisoft's survival action game "I Am Alive" has finally been given a rating by the ESRB. It was initially announced 3 years ago, but since then it has made only a fleeting appearance during an unofficial trailer. Finally though we have a clue as to how the game is coming together.
The ESRB describes the game as this, "players traverse through city ruins and use a machete to kill human enemies in melee-style-combat."
I'd be surprised if the game sells all that well since the PR for the game seems to be working in reverse to every other game out there. They seem to be keeping it too quiet if anything. Even cult favourites get some publicity guys.
I Am Alive is slated for release in Fiscal 2011/12 (April 2011 – March 2012)
It might not be the game that Half-life fans wanted to see, but at least you get to satisfy that Freeman addiction when Sega's Renegade Ops is released on Steam on October 14th.
It's been announced that the Steam version of Renegade Ops, a top down action game that reminds me of Dead Nation crossed with Micro Machines and with a healthy dose of Twisted Metal for good measure, will feature Freeman, his Buggy and even Antlions as a special weapon!
Now maybe someone can go round to Valve studios with a crowbar and remind them about Episode 3?
Right now, take a look at this...
What did you see? If the answer is a cracking set of pins, you're correct but look again. That's right, M!NX have teamed up with Valve to create these immense looking Portal 2 Knee Socks, complete with aperture science logo. These really are a great example of Game inspired clothing and for $10 a pair they really are great value for money, much more so than the Minecraft socks mentioned on the Killer Keyboard podcast anyway...
Finally, as has now become customary, here are the Top 10 selling UK Games on all platforms for the week ending September 24th.
1 - Gears of War 3 2 - F1 2011 3 - Dead Island 4 - Zumba Fitness 5 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution 6 - Driver: San Francisco 7 - Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 8 - Resistance 3 9 - Lego Pirates of the Caribbean 10- Rugby World Cup 2011
Time for bed, not sure how well I'll sleep with those Portal Socks on my mind but I'll give it the old college try.
Sony Online Entertainment announced today that DCU online would be joining the "Free-volution" by adopting a free to play model at the end of October.
For many gamers the monthly subscription was a sticking point that prevented them from getting on board with the SOE superhero MMO, but with the subscription model abandoned, and the announcement that the game itself will be free to download on the PSN, it's expected that many more gamers will be venturing into Gotham or Metropolis.
The new model will have three tiers of membership (Free, Premium and Legendary) depending on how much money you sink into the game through in game micro transactions, although SOE were at pains to state that micro transactions won't break the game. Items like the Superman Raid suit and extra EXP will not be available for purchase. That's heartening to hear, especially for a cheapskate like me who fully intends to play as a free member as far as i can.
Free membership is, as you can imagine, free. It allows for two character slots, access to current raids and online play in DC Universe Online, ability to join a league as well as many further benefits. Free level players can buy downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers and more through the aforementioned micro transactions.
Any gamer who has spent $5 or more in-game through either in game items or previous subscriptions qualifies for Premium membership. Premium members will get extra character slots, a greater cash limit and more inventory slots . just like Free members, premium members can also buy extra character slots etc in-game.
Legendary Membership requires a monthly subscription of $14.99 but includes all the features and benefits that current subscribers enjoy, including free DLC and the ability to create leagues of unlimited size. Anyone who already paid for a lifetime subscription will be automatically given Legendary membership as the lifetime subscription still stands.
John Smedley, president of SOE refuted the idea that this move came after a downturn in players. "In terms of 'Is it a result in a drop in subs' – absolutely not, This is the right business model. If I can be honest, the game ended up costing a lot more than we thought it would, and this was our preferred business model from day one."
You do have to question though, if this was their preferred business model, then why not implement it from day one? It would be fair to assume that SOE needed to recoup their money quickly and that the original model was the best option to do so.
DCU Online will be available as a free download in late October.On the subject of PSN, the Call of Duty: Elite Beta finally went live on Sony's console today.
An Activision press release stated that "Beta testers can take their current Call of Duty multiplayer experience to the next level by jumping into the Beta version of the Call of Duty Elite service, as beta access will start to be activated in stages, with limited invitations rolling out effective today," The Beta is currently only for CoD: Black Ops, but once Modern Warfare 3 is released on November 8th the full functions of the Beta will be made available.
To try getting in on the Beta you can head over to www.callofduty.com/elite and register your interest. I for one won't be bothering though...
Next up, Street Fighter IV will be making it's début on android phones sometime in Q4, unfortunately it will only be available on LG handsets for the first 3 months before being available on any Android compatible system thereafter.
I can't decide what's a worse idea, that you'll more than likely be playing SF IV on a phone with no buttons or that you'll have to play it on a crappy LG handset to begin with...
According to Andrisang.com Hideo Kojima, the genius behind the Metal Gear games, has announced that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater will be released for 3DS in 2012, not 2011 as was originally planned.
Regular readers will remember that i had a hands on with the game at the IGN UK 100th podcast party and i was very impressed with the use of 3D and general fidelity of the graphics. I'm interested if this delay has anything to do with the leaked news of a second control stick add-on for the 3DS system, maybe Kojima-san wants to build in some compatibility with the add-on to rectify some of the control issues i had with the game.
Andriasang also reports that Kojima confirmed an early to mid 2012 release date for the Z.O.E. HD collection. Yay!
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has announced the formation of a new company which will go by the name Qwikster. It marks the seperation of their streaming and Postal divisions and will require unique accounts to use either service. Going forward Netflix will handle the streaming side of the business while Qwikster will be the company in charge of the DVD/Games by post business.
Hard to say what advantage this move gives Netflix but it's an interesting development which makes sense of the re-pricing exercise of the previous few weeks.
Finally as always, here's the UK's top ten best selling games (all formats) for the week ending September 17:
1 - Dead Island 2 - Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 3 - Resistance 3 4 - Driver: San Franciso 5 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution 6 - Zumba Fitness 7 - Lego Pirates of the Caribbean 8 - Rugby World Cup 2011 9 - Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 10-Cars 2
Really? Who hasn't got Zumba yet that could possibly want it?
Rugby World cup is still performing well thanks to its real world counterpart, while Resistance 3 débuts at number 3 just below Dead Island and Warhammer 40k, which maintain their position at the top of the tree.
The first Trailer for Max Payne 3 was released a few days ago, confirming the release date as March of 2012.
The game has been in something approaching development hell since it was first announced for release at the end of 2009. Being the first game in the Max Payne series not to be written by Sam Lake or developed by Remedy Entertainment, there was always going to be some scepticism regarding the sequel, but this was made worse by the continued delays associated with the project. It was originally pushed back by a year to 2010 after Take-Two claimed it would "benefit from having more development time", and then in June of 2010 it was delayed by yet another year. It was pushed back one more time after that but finally on September 8th of this year Rockstar announced that they expected the game to ship in March of 2012.
The new release date was confirmed by the trailer, below, that was released a few days later. So come March next year it'll be Happy Birthday to Me!
The HD remake business is expanding rapidly on PS3, and Vita, with todays announcements of both Final Fantsay X and the Metal Gear HD collection.
In my opinion Final Fantasy suffered a sharp downturn after the tenth instalment of their hallmark RPG series, even today it's a great looking game, so it's nice to see that a new generation of gamers will be able to experience a good looking RPG with HD graphics that actually holds up during extended play.
Metal Gear HD Collection will contain the two Metal Gear Solid games to have appeared on PS2, Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater. Again, on a personal note, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was one of the best looking games on PS2 so to see it remastered in HD will be great, i'm interested to see how well MGS2 scrubs up too, since it was much earlier in the PS2's life cycle and so obviously didn't have the same level of polish that Snake Eater benefited from.
With the twin stick set up, and sheer power of the Vita it only makes sense that the HD versions of PS2 classics find their way onto the hardware, and it gives consumers one more reason to buy the console. I'm interested to see how, or even if they use the extra control options that the Vita has to offer, especially in the case of Final Fantasy, where the touch screen could let you interact with the in game menus in a whole new way.
While we're on the subject of Playstation classics heading to the Vita, you may have heard us mention Z.O.E. on a recent episode of the Killer Keyboard podcast. The HD version will be heading to PS3 and Vita in 2012 and will be transfer enabled (or "transfarring" as Kojima likes to say), meaning that if you have both consoles you can transfer your saves and play the same game on the move or at home. Just in case there are any ZOE enthusiasts out there, here's a little nugget from TGS.
Playstation Vita will be released in Japan on December 17th although no official date for America or Europe was forthcoming at today's Sony press conference.
