GamersTube.com: Game Video Production Contest |
Posted by:kustodian on Nov 21st, 2009, 16:46:34
GamersTube.com one of the best video hosting websites for video gamers and one of the most popular video uploading services for our game casters in recent history, is organizing a Game Video Production Contest with a $100 prize for the winner.
Here are the full details:
[sourcequote=gamerstube]Hi gamers and video makers. We would love to see a GameReplays.org entry for our video contest. Details below.
Can you use $100 cash? Starting Wednesday November 11th enter to win our first video production contest ever! The winner will get a check from GamersTube.com for $100 and a l33t plaque commemorating their feat. Get the rules and entry details below.
How to Enter:
1. Create a unique video game music video and upload it to GamersTube.com by November 30th at 12pm Central Daylight Savings time.
2. Send an email to contest@gamerstube.com and include a link to your video, your video title, your real first and last name, your gamer handle, your postal address (no p.o. boxes), and a phone number you can be reached at.
Rules and Guidelines:
By sending in an entry to the contest you certify that you understand the following rules and guidelines. No purchase necessary. Contest entrants must have a valid US or Canada mailing address.
1. Any video using full or significant portions of a single by a musical artist must give that artist the just credits at the beginning of the video including the artist name, track name and album title.
2. If a video contains significant portions of a video game that video game should be credited along with the games publisher and/or developer. i.e. Game: QuakeLive Publisher: id software
3. If an audio track used is a mix, remix or other variation of an audio track both the mixing artist and the original recording artist deserve to be credited. (i.e. a trance mix of the Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" should credit both the DJ who created the mix and the Black Eyed Peas). Note: cover songs do not need to credit the original recording artist.
4. The credits must appear within the first 5 seconds of the video and the credits must remain on screen for 5 seconds.
5. Credits must appear in a legible font (preferably Arial or similar fonts) and must be of a font size that is legible. Credits can not be displayed in fine print or in a scripted or character based font.
6. No Game Music Videos with more than one song unless that song is a remix, mash or other alteration by another artist or dj and the appropriate credits are included.
7. Any video using full of significant portions of a cartoon, tv show or motion picture must give just credits to the title of the aforementioned at the beginning of the video.
8. No video can display a full tv show, cartoon or motion picture with or without music or other audio overlayed unless the uploader is the copyright holder or an agent of the legal copyright holder. However, individual scenes and short clips can be used to create a video.
Here is an example of a credit listing:
Song: Bodies
Artist: Drowning Pool
Album: Sinner
Game: QuakeLive
Publisher: id software
Note: Where and how the credits are displayed is up to the video producer with respect to the above mentioned guidelines.
Prizes:
Winner gets a place in internet history as making the best Game Music Video in the first year of an annual contest, a l33t plaque commemorating their achievement and a cash prize valued at $100 usd. $100 cash prize given in the form of a check payable to the legal contest entrant and sent via ground mail or paypal. Paypal payments subject to transaction fees by the third party provider, these fees will be the responsibility of the contest winner and not GamersTube.com. Prize will be awarded on December 14th, 2009 and announced via a variety of social networking platforms, press releases and on the official GamersTube.com blog.
[source=http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=556236]GamersTube's Original Post[/source][/sourcequote]
Playstation 3 Motion Technology To Receive Patching |
Posted by:Church on Sep 30th, 2009, 11:45:55
It was announced earlier this year that the Playstation 3 would be receiving a new motion-tracking controller. Today Sony announced that the Playstation 3 motion technology will also be receiving patch updates, while Microsoft's 'Project Natal' will most likely not.
Having patch updates will provide many bonuses to the software. It means that Sony can release regular updates to its motion technology, as well as new bonuses that Project Natal cannot include without making the user buy new software.
The video below shows the Playstation 3 Motion Controller being used in Resident Evil 5. To watch this new technology in action, start watching the video at the 2:54 mark. As you will be able to see, the player is using the normal controller for moving around, while using the motion technology for aiming.
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Demonstration From The Tokyo Game Show
Visit The Official Playstation 3 Website.
GameReplays Changes Coming Soon |
Within the next couple of weeks or so, we will be rolling out two important changes to the site that are designed to make GameReplays easier to navigate, and to make clans a more prominent feature of the site.
1. New Menu
The first change is a brand new customizable menu and live search feature. The live search is limited to forums and portal sections (it will not search through posts or topics, as the goal is to make it easy to get to any of GR's 1,000+ forums), but it will start producing results as you type.
Any link that shows up in the list can be added to your own custom menu, allowing you to build a menu that is tailored to your browsing habits on GR.
Additionally, the menu will automatically list links to the last 20 topics, and last 20 replays you've visited, with new post indicators that make it easy to see which topics/replays have new replies since your last visit.
Lastly, the menu now opens instantly, instead of the slight delay of the current menu. The custom menu is available only for registered members. Guests will see the current menu.
 A sample custom menu. The left column is your custom links which you can freely add/remove. It automatically categorizes them for you.
 Sample menu with live search. Results will appear as you type. Clicking on the green or blue '+' icons will add the link or the entire category to your menu.
2. Clan Forums
Clan forums are being moved back into each game section's forum index, but only the clans relevant to that game will show up. In otherwords, if a clan has set their primary game to Company of Heroes, then that clan will only show up in the CoH forum index, and not the other game sections.
While some clans do have multi-game divisions, their forums will only show up in whichever game they have designated as their primary. This is for technical and usability reasons.
However, if you are a member of a clan, your clan's forum will show up at the top of the clan forum category no matter which game section you're browsing.
The goal of this change is to make clans a more prominent and community-oriented feature of GameReplays, and will be just the first of several major upgrades the clan system will be receiving in the coming months!
Order Of War Set To Be Released On September 22nd |
Posted by:Church on Sep 05th, 2009, 01:03:07
Publisher Square Enix, known for their famous titles such as Final Fantasy and the Dragon Quest series, is preparing to release its first ever World War II based Real-Time-Strategy game.
Order Of War will consist of two single-player campaigns, set in 1944 during World War II. You can either play as the Americans or their enemy, the Germans. At the moment, there is a demo available at FileShack which allows you to play as the Americans. The game will be released on September 22nd in North America and will be available to other parts of the world on a later date.
Download The Demo At FileShack.
Valve Cracks Down On Idling Programs |
Valve are known for punishing players who take the easy road to unlocking things in their games, or cheating. Yesterday they announced that Team Fortress 2 players who used the SourceOP idling program will lose all items attained by idling. Those of you, who resisted temptation, get a nice, shiny new hat.
Erik Johnson of the official Team Fortress 2 Blog had this to say:
"Over the next few days we'll be removing all Team Fortress 2 items that were earned using external idling applications. We're going to adopt a zero tolerance policy for external applications used to manipulate the persistent item system," Johnson said. "Due to us not having a policy in place prior to today, this time we're only removing the items earned through cheating the system. Going forward, if we find users using external applications, we'll remove all of their items. If you're interested, only about 4.5% of the players in Team Fortress 2’s community will be affected by this cleansing process."
He also stated that they realize there is a high level of demand for items and are still working on systems to allow people to find them in new ways, via trading, and crafting duplicates into desired items. But said it was more important to focus on people who are using external applications to get them.
View the original article at TeamFortess2.com
Peregrine Gaming Glove At PAX 09 |
The Peregrine Glove is the future of PC gaming, it empowers you to control your game with the touch of a finger. No need to look down or fumble around for keys, your game is now part of you. The glove itself is very durable and has a great design to it. You are probably thinking great, who will want to wear a sweaty glove all day when you’re gaming? Well, the material breathes so you don't get sweaty hands.
At E3 2009 ,we were first introduced to the Peregrine Gaming Glove. Where a display of games were set up with the glove including popular RTS and MMORPG games on the PC. They seemed to have worked great and the creators of the glove who have been working on it for five years now, said the response was even better than we could have imagined and cannot wait to show it off more at the PAX gaming event.
Here is the latest video released giving a preview of the glove:
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If you are planning on going to PAX, make sure you do not miss out on the preview of the Peregrine glove. This new revolutionary glove could change the way that games will be played!
View the announcement at Twitter.com/Peregrine
Left 4 Dead 2 Gets A Price Cut |
With Left for Dead fans left angry with Valve's decision to release Left for Dead 2 only a year after the release of the first squeal and releasing it without all the content they promised. Valve has heard the voices of the many gamers crying and complaining about it, and at GameStop's personal E3 today, Valve announced a bonus for pre-ordering Left for Dead 2. The pre-order bonus not only gets you an exclusive in game baseball bat, you also get access to the demo two weeks before anyone else.
In addition to all this goodness, Valve is also going to give you five dollars off your copy of the game at the time of pick up. Left for Dead 2 hits stores this November for Xbox 360 and PC and is already available for preordering.
View the original article at wii.com
Left 4 Dead 2's 'Dark Carnival' Playable at PAX |
Valve announced that Left 4 Dead 2 will be playable at the Penny Arcade Expo. Attendees will get a chance to play "Dark Carnival", the third installment of the new campaign. Valve also plans on showing some of the new weapons and items they have added into the game. The game will be playable at Microsoft's Xbox 360 booth as well as at Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 booth. Different areas of the game will be shown at each location.
Fans have been angered by Valve's inconsistency to release news about their upcoming title, but the developer recently announced that it will be revealing more about Left 4 Dead 2 this November, nearer the game's Xbox 360 and PC launch.
The Penny Arcade Expo starts on Thursday, September 3 and ends on Sunday, September 6.
Public Gets Hands On Preview For Project Natal |
Microsoft has allowed the public to get their hands on its new hands-free games controller for the first time. They showed off the Natal technology, designed for the Xbox 360 console, at the games convention, Gamescom, in Germany. It was first unveiled in early development at E3 in June this year, but was kept under the warps and away from public.
The controller uses a microphone combined with visual and infrared cameras to control the onscreen action. It allows people to play games using the whole of their body, much like the Nintendo Wii console, but without any controllers in your hand.
Kudo Tsunoda, Xbox 360's general manager and creative director of Project Natal, said that as consoles evolved from being a dedicated games machine into "living room entertainment", it was important to develop a new control interface.
"The current controller is a barrier to some people using our console,” said Kudo Tsunoda. “for many users, the vast array of buttons and analogue sticks is plain confusing."
The main part of Project Natal is the infrared sensor that detects players, their movement, body heat and how far away they are from the controller. It also calibrates itself to the room's temperature and then looks for warm bodies around the room. When a person is detected, it scans the person's shape and tries to match it against profiles it stores in its memory. If the person is new, it asks them to create a new profile. If it finds a match, it loads the person's profile and begins to work out their position.
"Even if someone or something were to move in front of a player, the sensor would not get confused, providing some of the player was still visible. If you take a young child, they grow at quite a fast rate, However, these changes over days or weeks are slight,” said Tsunoda. “ So if there are small day-to-day changes, Natal will recognise that and update your profile. Clothes, people, size, and lighting - we're making Natal so it will work in all conditions. And, yes, you can even log in and play Natal in the dark."
Two demos were on show at Gamescom for people to try out, one of which was a playable version of Burnout Paradise, in which users control cars using an imaginary steering wheel, moving their feet forwards or backwards to control the speed. Ricochet was also showed, a mini-game, which uses Unreal Engine 3, that perfectly demonstrated the technology's capabilities, putting up a translucent player avatar up on screen and then firing balls at the player to deflect away.
Project Natal is an incredible creation; it looks like it will challenge the Nintendo Wii console on its own. It puts a wonder into gamers mind, what will the PlayStation 3 do to match this?
Whilst there was no release dates revealed or any price indications, it sure looks like it will break the record for highest priced console controller.
View the original coverage at IGN.com
GameReplays' Twitter Feed |
Posted by:Darky on Aug 17th, 2009, 16:27:27
A quick reminder that Gamereplays.org now has a Twitter account. For those of you who know of Twitter and/or use it, the account is GameReplaysOrg. Go check it out to see the latest site updates and news. Become a follower of GR's Twitter, see other people from GRs Twitter and check their page out.
Some of you may still be asking yourself what is Twitter? Twitter is a perfect medium between instant messaging and e-mail/blogging. With Twitter you answer a simple question, What are you doing? All responses are less than 140 characters to give your friends and followers a quick and easy update on what is going on.
Everyone on Twitter has a personalized page, kind of like MySpace or Facebook. You update your own site with personal updates, and if you are a follower of anyone's account, their updates are also shown on your page.
Twitter is very easy to sign-up for and get started right away. All of Gamereplay's major games will be featured on Twitter, so it will be one of the quickest and easiest ways to get the latest news.
Quakecon: First stop on Global Agenda Road Trip... |
Global Agenda has touched down at this weekends Quakcon convention in Texas. Hi-Rez Studios, the games independent developer and publisher, has decided to take the action MMO on the road. Following impressive responses from initial showings earlier in the year, including receiving MMORPG.com's game of the show award at E3, Hi-Rez are keen to raise the exposure for their self funded début title.
"Global Agenda’s rapid-pace game play and unique combat system is best experienced hands-on”, said executive producer, Todd Harris. “So we are very excited to take the game on the road and expose the rest of the world to the game that we’ve all grown addicted to playing."
If you are in the area, Quakecon is the ideal opportunity to have a look at what Global Agenda has to offer. It is practically a must see for those who have had enough of the generic fantasy setting of most MMO's as well as those more inclined to First Person Shooter combat.
[youtube]4NPZkgK-TkY&eurl=http://www.youtube.com/user/HirezStudios&feature=player_profilepage#t=15[/youtube]
Can't get to Quakecon this weekend, but still want to see the game for yourself? Further confirmed dates on the tour are as follows;- Atlanta, Georgia DragonCon September 4th
- Seattle, Washington Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) September 4th-6th
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Games and Media Expo (GameX) October 22nd-24th
- Las Vegas, Nevada Consumer Electronic Show (CES) January 7th-10th
Liked what you have seen of Global Agenda? Drop by our Global Agenda forums to discuss the game with other fans.
Clanwars Website Unavailable |
The official Clanwars website, Clanwars.cc, is unavailable for the time being due to a DDoS attack.
Clanwars Admin Shortbus offers an explanation of what is going on.
Hello to all Clanwars/GR.org patrons. We (www.clanwars.cc)are currently undergoing a DDOS attack from a group of disgruntled players from one of the Halo leagues. The Staff is looking at a variety of options to defend against this malicious act, however no clear resolution has been reached. Simply "moving" to a new host is problematic due to our databases demands. As you may recall some months back we also suffered through a similar attack, and after spending hundreds of hours with 4 different police and government agencies we were able to finally get back online.
In summary we hope to have the Clanwars ladder up as soon as possible and appreciate your patience.
Shortbus
Posted by:`m0to' on Aug 08th, 2009, 22:59:07
Hey ya there. Ive played dota a few times with a friend and i would really apreciate a you could sent me a beta key for Heroes of Newerth.  You can either pm it to me or sent it via email to eric_clapton16@hotmail.com
Thnx in advance.
Order of War demo hits Steam! |
In the Real Time Strategy genre, there is a single title that is synonymous with World War II. The still excellent, Company of Heroes. Quarter 4 of this year could though see a challenger to the crown. Order of War is the upcoming title from developers Wargaming.net. Though any title clearly has a lot to live up to competing with Company Of Heroes, Order of War has at least one trump card in its deck; the scale is simply enormous.
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Watching Order of War footage, one cannot help but think of Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. The game strives to emulate and perhaps even surpass the scale of conflict those two brought to our TV and Cinema screens. No small squads and vehicles for you to micromanage here. Instead the aim is to place the player in command of whole armies with literally hundreds of Infantry supported by tanks, artillery and aircraft. Not only that but as you would maybe expect from the games publishers, Square Enix, this scale is in conjunction with glorious cinematic camera views.
Order of War though is a very different title from Company Of Heroes, there is no base building and your reinforcements enter the field of battle from off screen rather than mysteriously appearing ready for action at a structure you build. How the strategy and planned multiplayer pans out compared to its illustrious competition of course remains to be seen but it could be a surprise package for 2009.
The game has received little coverage in the face of Command and Conquer 4 and Starcraft 2 but it is a title with a very different approach and the Single Player Demo Is Available To Download From Steam Now.
C&C 4 Cinematic Trailer Directors Cut Released |
A 4-minute director’s cut of the first cinematic trailer for Command & Conquer 4 was released on the official website, so sit back and enjoy. You'll hear Sam Bass explaining the thoughts and motivations behind the trailer, gaining some insight into the development of the upcoming game.
Learn:
• When C&C4 will be set
• Where the trailer was shot
• Insight into future character casting
And the answer to the most pressing question on the minds of C&C fans everywhere... What do you get when you mix a light bulb, tape and... KANE?
Command & Conquer 4 Trailer: Director's Cut
Next to the new site design, the largest change that was made with this recent update was how replay reviews work. Replay reviews have now been replaced with a very simple and easy to use to replay tips system.
Do you have some advice that you want to share? Easy! All you have to do is click the "Add Tip" button in the replay comments, and it will leave a specially formatted tip to show your advice. This tip can be as simple as a single line, or as detailed as a full blown review. It's totally up to you.
 Click the highlighted button to leave a tip
Once you've left your tip, others can rate it. You can also rate other tips. If you see something that's accurate, don't hesitate to give it a thumbs up to increase its rating!
The tips are conveniently nested within the replay's comments so that you can read them as you skim the comments. However, the tips are also located in a dedicated tab next to the comments tab in the replay's sub-navigation.
 The tips tab lists just the replay's tips, and orders them by the date they were posted
So start leaving tips and helping people out! We recommend avoiding leaving tips for well known/established players, and focusing on those who look like they could use a little help. Good luck, and let us know if you have any recommendations
GameReplays Gets a New Look, New Features! |
Posted by:Ang3lic on Aug 03rd, 2009, 23:03:05
After what has been a long and arduous journey, we have finally launched a site-wide redesign aimed at giving the site a cleaner, more modern feel. This design will serve as the platform from which we launch major new features such as an upcoming tournament system, social network, revamped clan system, and much more.
While the goal of this update was to give the site a new look, we did manage to add a few new features as well as overhaul existing ones to streamline them. What's more is the re-design allows for faster overall performance, reducing page size and page load times considerably. Below are a few highlights of the most important changes:
Global changes- New header/background to give each section a more individual feel
- New login box with user avatar
- New menu system with drop downs for the major tabs, instead of a horizontal sub-menu
Replay system- New navigation that combines the popular and member tabs with the other tabs.
- "My Replays" tab to make it easy to find replays you've uploaded.
- New replay index designed to avoid information overload. It's simpler and cleaner.
- Overhauled replay details page. Less junk between the details box, and comments!
- Brand new tips system. This has replaced replay reviews entirely.
Portals- Latest replays have been moved to the right to get them closer to the top of the page.
- Highlight rotator now supports four images, making it easier to find any new features you might have missed.
Forums- No major changes here, just a new look.
There is still quite a bit of work to be done and you will find broken pages here and there. We will continue to fix and polish these pages over time in order to complete the skin of the site. Should you run into any bugs or issues, please report them in the site's feedback forum.
Major thanks to the GameReplays.org development team for patiently working on this project:
Subroutine, |elder|Kiltec, TDA, Ang3lic, -null-, koner, AgmLauncher, and redders6600
Enjoy!
Command and Conquer 4 Portal Launched! |
Posted by:ScOtSmAn on Jul 25th, 2009, 14:59:32
EA recently announced the fourth and final installment of the popular Command & Conquer Tiberium series:
"Shipping in 2010, Command & Conquer 4 will introduce a multitude of innovations to the classic fast and fluid Command & Conquer gameplay while retaining the core compulsions that fans have come to love over the series' history. Introducing new class-based gameplay, mobile bases and persistent player progression throughout all game modes, Command & Conquer 4 offers players new, innovative and compelling strategic depth."
And it's finally time to open up the Command and Conquer 4 Portal to the community. On the portal you can find all the information we currently know and much more! If you want to participate in the interesting and sometimes heated discussions, we suggest you to take a look at our Command & Conquer 4 forums!
Command and Conquer 4 Teaser |
Posted by:Oreb- on Jul 24th, 2009, 08:50:48
Only a few short hours remain until the interwebs are overloaded with Command and Conquer 4 information and details from EALA's Battlecast Primetime special one-hour broadcast. Just before this event though, Gametrailers scored rights to the exclusive debut trailer.
[gametrailers]53140[/gametrailers]
While not spoiling the main point this trailer conveys, it would please some fans to note that units such as the Ox Transport and Orca are almost unchanged, as well as Joe Kucan reprising his role as Kane. One key change though, is the growth of the infamous Beard of Kane, surely this must be pivotal in his plan for final ascension.
Wii Sports Resort On The Verge Of Release |
Posted by:Church on Jul 21st, 2009, 12:28:20
Nintendo has just recently released their latest update for the Wii controller - the Wii Motion Plus. The new adaptation to the original Wii Remote controller was released only a few weeks ago and has already been a huge success. This clip-on for the original remote attaches to the bottom of the old Wii Remote. Although it may add a bit of weight to the controller, the new benefits that come along with Wii Motion Plus are well worth it.
When attached to the end of the remote, this little gadget gives the Wii games a more realistic feel. For example, the old tennis game that is part of the original Wii Sports is fairly repetitive, consisting of simple movements that required no skill or technique. The new Wii Motion Plus includes more technology and - with the latest 'motion plus'-enhanced game Grand Slam - allows you to produce shots like a top- or back-spin instead of the simple backhand and forehand movements you were limited to before.
The new adaptation of Wii Sports, entitled Wii Sports Resort, will include twelve new games that the original game did not: Archery, Frisbee, Basketball, Cycling, Canoeing, Power Cruising, Table Tennis, Air Sports, Bowling, Swordplay, Golf and Wakeboarding all make a showing in the updated game.
View The Gallery Of Wii Sports Resorts Screen Shots
The following video will give you a small insight into Wii Sports Resort and will have to do until the game is finally released in your country!
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If you are not sure about when Wii Sports Resort will hit shelves in your country, here is a list of release dates for the major countries.- Australia- 23rd July
- America- 26th July
- Europe- 24th July
- Japan- 25th July
If where you live is not specified, try asking your local game retailer to check when they will begin to sell Wii Sports Resort.
COD: World at War Map Pack 3 Announced |
It seems that Treyarch are intent on making the most of the time before Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 hits the shelves. Just days after Map Pack 2 made it's way to the PC, Treyarch have announced there will be a third map pack for the WW2 shooter. Release is scheduled for August on Playstation 3 and XBox 360. As the case with previous map packs, no mention of a PC release has been made but, if it's a similar timescale to the previous map packs, we could possibly see it for the end of September or start of October. Expect to see it sometime after the consoles and before Modern Warfare 2 hits shelves in early November.
Following the pattern of previous map packs, there are to be three new multiplayer maps and a new Zombie mode map.
Der Reise will be the new Zombie mode map. It will come with a Pack-A-Punch machine to upgrade your weapons, teleporters along with the Hellhounds and Wunderwaffe we have already seen. No screenshots for this map are available at this time.
Battery is said to be a mid-sized close quarters map. It is based on an Island in the Philippines so the Marines will once again be taking on the Imperial Army.
Breach is set in Berlin and described as a fast paced, dense battlefield. As with the other maps, details are limited but it is likely to see a lot of run-and-gun game play.
Revolution will be a much more open map. Keep your head down, it is described as a Russian cityscape that is sniper friendly.
While no pricing is announced at this time, both previous map packs for World at War were priced at 800 Microsoft points or $10. Gamereplays.org will be sure to bring you all the latest details on Map Pack 3 as they become available!
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Details |
Infinity Ward's Community Manager, Robert Bowling, recently unveiled there will be three versions to choose from when purchasing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He surprised us all with the contents of Modern Warfare 2's Prestige Edition, which will be available along with the other versions on November the 10th.
Before we look at the Prestige Edition, it is worth looking at the Hardened Edition. This version is essentially the collector’s edition of the game and comes in a metal case with art book. It also contains a bonus code for downloading the original Call of Duty game.
The big news was the contents of the Prestige edition. It contains all of the Hardened Edition contents, but also has fully functioning Night Vision goggles with alternating modes. These goggles are branded with Infinity Ward logo and the Modern Warfare 2 tag. Also inside this edition of the game will be a sculpted 'Soap Mactavish' head, on which to display the goggles when you decide to take them off.
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According to Infintyward.com, pricing for the Hardened Edition is expected be around $80, with the Prestige Edition weighing in at $150. The Prestige Edition for XBox 360 and Playstation 3 can now be pre-ordered from a limited number of stores now. As of yet, there are no details as to availability of the Prestige Edition for the PC.
New World at War Updates Released for PC |
It is finally here! Map pack 2 for Call of Duty: World at War has been released for the PC as part of the latest patch. The new map pack brings the three new multiplayer maps and Zombie mode map, previously seen on the console version, to the PC. In addition to some fixes to multiplayer and modding, the 1.5 patch also adds support for CODTV.
Of course it is the maps that will be the highlight for most players. All three multiplayer maps are infantry only and offer a variety of landscapes to fight over, while the Zombie map offers some new twists for fans of the mode.
Banzai is the largest of the three multiplayer maps. It features a large central bridge over a ravine with abundant exposed areas. Expect to see a lot of traffic through the series of caves, which is set behind the waterfall. This is a route less exposed to snipers and machine guns.
Corrosion is a ruined Russian train yard which sees a mix of fighting ranges. It is a map that offers many perfect ambush spots, and enemies will appear seemingly from nowhere. You will not have to go far to find an enemy or for them to find you.
The Sub Pens map is set in a bomb ravaged Japanese submarine base. You can battle for control of the interior choke points or push the enemy out into the limited open space to rain artillery on them.
Finally the Zombie map is called Shi no Numa. For the first time you are pitched against a horde of Imperial zombies rather than those of the Nazi variety. You also have a new array of traps and weapons to wield against your undead foe. In addition, there are some new mechanics to promote a more mobile approach to survival than before.
GameReplays.org HoN Beta Key Competitions |
Posted by:Ang3lic on Jul 19th, 2009, 02:30:34
GameReplays.org is proud to present the HoN Signature Contest and the DotA Tournament for Heroes of Newerth Beta Keys! For those of you who missed out on other opportunities to obtain a beta key this is your chance to redeem with prizes amounting to over 20 Heroes of Newerth Beta Keys!
In order to find out more information about each of these competitions check out the Heroes of Newerth Portal. If you have any questions about our Heroes of Newerth Beta Key competitions feel free to private message Simba, one of our Heroes of Newerth staff members!
Heroes of Newerth Closed Beta Key Giveaways |
Posted by:Simba on Jul 19th, 2009, 02:29:19
Gamereplays.org is hosting a series of events which offer keys to the closed beta as prizes. So be sure to check out the DotA Tournament as well as the HoN Signature Contest for your chance to win one or more. Registration for the both events has just begun, but be sure to get yours in quickly. The latest you can register for the DotA tournament is 23:00 (GMT), Friday August 17th, and the latest you can register for the signature competition is 23:00 (GMT), Wednesday July 29th.
Sony Reacts To Nintendo’s Latest Motion Technology |
Posted by:Church on Jul 05th, 2009, 11:24:11
Sony has recently published a patent establishing details that they will be making a few changes to their original take on the motion technology after the release of further details on Nintendo’s, Motion Plus. The new motion technology that Sony is said to be releasing, will replace the led stick along with the camera, and will allow you to use everyday objects that can be detected by the camera.
The everyday objects that you will be able to utilize in the videogames will include those such as: Coffee mugs, drinking glasses, books, and bottles. These are not the only objects that can be detected by the technology, it has been programed to detect any three dimensional object.
The use of everyday objects could be a potential health risk, swinging around a ceramic coffee mug could end up straight through a window, or hit someone near you. This new technology could have potential, but it also has the potential to cause havoc.
Read The Full Detailed Review Of Sony’s Motion Technology.
Valve Responds to Left 4 Dead 2 Boycotts |
If you have not heard the news already, numerous groups of Left 4 Dead players have been protesting Valve’s announcement and development of the sequel to the hit game, Left 4 Dead. Now you might think, why would people be boycotting Left 4 Dead 2? Well, here’s a small list of the reasons behind the boycotts. - Valve promised numerous content extensions and updates to the original Left 4 Dead, and only released a small survival pack patch before announcing a sequel to the game.
- Left 4 Dead 2’s current scheduled release deadline of November is too small of a timeframe to completely ensure the quality that a sequel deserves, and also makes Valve, seem like a company that is beginning to care more about it’s revenue rather than it’s fans.
- The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will create a division in the Left 4 Dead community, and thereby decrease the quality and ability to enjoy online multiplayer gaming.
- Left 4 Dead 2’s release will render the original game obsolete and forgotten after only one year after it’s release.
- These boycott groups request Valve to release Left 4 Dead 2 not as a complete sequel to Left 4 Dead, but as a free update or an expansion pack to the first game, in order to honor their promise of new content, and continue support for one of it’s extremely popular games, similar to their constant maintenance of Team Fortress 2.
- However, Valve, being the community driven company that they are, have already responded to these boycotts. Gabe Newell, Valve’s president, has stated that while creating a sequel after one year is uncharacteristic of Valve, continued support is definitely something that Valve has always done. Valve still plans to honor it’s promise to release new content and updates for Left 4 Dead, even after Left 4 Dead 2 will be released.
As for the release ofLeft 4 Dead 2, Valve sees Left 4 Dead 2 as a separate, new entity from the first game of the sequel. Valve’s marketing vice president, Doug Lombardi, stated in an interview,"It was just like, Ok this is big enough that this isn't Downloadable content, we're not going to be able to leak it out. It's a cohesive, single thing. It's Left 4 Dead 2." They promise that the Left 4 Dead team is dedicated to ensuring the quality of Left 4 Dead 2, and what it means to Left 4 Dead fans and players.
Despite Valve's promises, the always tenacious players and customers continue their boycotts. Keep checking Gamereplays.org for more information on this latest issue!
Sony to Develop Handheld-Cellphone Hybrid |
Japan’s Nikkei has announced that Sony has plans to oust Apple from the throne of the ‘cellphone game-gear hybrid’ market.
The electronics giant intends to assemble a team early next month with the express purpose of designing and developing a product that functions as both a handheld video game console and a Sony Ericsson mobile phone.
With the iPhone garnering more and more attention from consumers and developers alike, the popularity of the PSP is bound to decline. This is only further evidence of the handheld market paradigm shift - pretty soon you’re not going to want to touch a portable console unless it warms your underwear and cooks you waffles.
Microsoft Denies Rumour Of A New Console |
Posted by:Church on Jun 25th, 2009, 21:29:14
Microsoft’s product manager Aaron Greenberg recently announced that Microsoft would not be releasing a new console in 2010 or any time soon. This means that Project Natal will not be released with a brand-new console devoted to it as previously reported but will now be bundled together with a new and updated version of the Xbox 360.
"What we're doing that's unique is, instead of asking you to invest in a new generation of hardware, a generation that's already well established,” said Aaron Greenberg, the product manager at Microsoft. “Extending the experience even longer by adding this whole new category of experiences with Project Natal."
Microsoft is planning to update the Xbox 360 hardware, to enable Project Natal to perform to the best of its ability. More details will be released on Project Natal and the new upgrades for the Xbox 360 as the date of release for the new system draws closer.
Artosis and Tasteless Talk StarCraft 2 |
Posted by:Lilbubba on Jun 25th, 2009, 11:08:26
Recently, Artosis and Tasteless had the time to discuss their thoughts about StarCraft 2 while in South Korea. Artosis and Tasteless are two well known non-Korean commentators for StarCraft. Overall the interview has a lot of positive things to say about the SC franchise and how it will continue to dominate the e-sports scene. The interview starts with a discussion about the beta, and both agree that it will take roughly three to five months to prepare the game for release after the beta. This allows sufficient time to fix bugs, imbalances, and polish the game for release.
Artosis starts by saying that he thinks there will be several RTS communities merging together to play SC2. In fact there are already several well known players from other RTS games that are currently playing SC1 to get the basic elements of the economy and units down now. Tasteless goes on to discuss how SC1 continues to evolve and how builds and maps are constantly changing and continuing to be fine tuned. The discussion then turns to new mechanics found in SC2 such as auto-mine.
Artosis continues the discussion with how the gameplay is different between the language communities. For instance Koreans play totally different than Chinese or American and European players. Yet overall, Artosis and Tasteless agree that we will see a more unified metagame between all language communities. Artosis brings up an important point as to why Korean's are so good at SC1; it's because it is a part of their culture. Tasteless says that SC2 will be less demanding mechanically than SC1 and will instead require you to out-think your opponent.
Artosis discusses what he is going to do to prepare for SC2. He will just simply start playing matches and see what he needs to do to beat his opponents and counter them. Tasteless says that he will prepare by playing the beta in singleplayer getting the feel of the game and how the game has really changed. When he is comfortable with the interface of the game, he will then begin playing matches with others.
Watch the full discussion below on the embedded videos.
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Discuss this interview in our forums.
Activision's Partnership With Sony Is In Jeopardy |
Posted by:Church on Jun 24th, 2009, 05:51:26
Activision’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, may be withdrawing Activision’s support to Sony, as they don’t have the incentive to release any more games for Playstation 3 and PSP, unless they make the consoles more profitable. Activision may want to concentrate on Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360, as they are selling better and are cheaper to produce games on, enabling more of a profit.
"I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform," Kotick explained. "It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better."
The new motion technology that Sony is set to release in 2010 could be the key to keeping Activision in the loop, which could decide the future of Activision’s partnership with Sony.
"They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony," said Kotick. "When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console, and the PSP too."
If Activision were to withdraw their partnership from Sony, their popular games, like the Call Of Duty series, could be completely removed from Sony’s consoles. This could disappoint many console based Call Of Duty fans.
Catalyst 9.6 Drivers Released, Significant Performance Gains |
It is no big secret that as opposed to Nvidia’s undetermined releases, ATI prefers to do monthly systematic updates to their video card drivers. Normally they only fix minor bugs or occasionally do just about nothing. However this is not the case with the 9.6 driver release.
In the release notes AMD boasts the following performance gains:- Company of Heroes – performance gains of up to 25% for the ATI Radeon™ HD 4600 Series and performance gains of up to 10% for the ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 Series.
- Crysis Warhead – performance gains of up to 11% for ATI CrossFireX™ configurations.
- Crysis – performance gains of up to 13% for ATI CrossFireX™ configurations.
- World in Conflict – performance gains of up to 30% for settings which were previously CPU limited.
If this is true, download those new drivers and get ready to either enjoy the higher frame rates or crank up those settings GameReplays.org! Obviously this does not apply if you are using a Nvidia GPU.
Download the new drivers.
Check out the release notes.
Microsoft's Next Big Console To Be Project Natal |
Posted by:Church on Jun 17th, 2009, 11:52:15
Microsoft’s Shane Kim announced recently that the launch of Project Natal would be as big as the launch of a new console. Project Natal is Microsoft’s new controller-free motion technology but rumours claim that it will be the latest console from Microsoft, rather than the adaptation of the Xbox 360 it was believed to be. Funnily enough, this could explain why it would be as big as the release of a new console...
The new console will not just be an Xbox 360 with a camera but will be a new platform with updated technology. Xbox 360 games will be playable on the new console but will not be able to take advantage of Project Natal unless they are remade with an updated version. Don’t think that Microsoft is just going to add the motion technology and resell Xbox 360 under a new name. They will be improving the hardware, the cooling system, adding a new style to the console and rounding it off with a brand new name.
An interesting fact is that Microsoft and Nintendo are on the same track with their console development but from opposite sides. Nintendo has developed motion-sensor technology and is now moving on to high-definition while Microsoft is creating its motion-technology after creating a high-definition console.
The preview of the new Xbox console is said to be available at next year’s game developer’s conference as Project Natal was targeted to be released in Fall 2010.
View the original story on 1UP and discuss the rumours below in our forum!
Those Nazi-Zombies Just Cannot Be Stopped |
Posted by:Church on Jun 17th, 2009, 11:18:06
Started to get bored with the same old Nazi-Zombie maps because you already know every little trick to the map? Well today, Treyarch released a new Nazi-Zombie map alongside the second map pack that was released yesterday. The new map - Shi No Numa - is a new take on the traditional Nazi-Zombie maps.
In the new map you are located in a swamp somewhere in the Pacific. Zombies surround you and all you can do is fend for yourself and your teammates with what little weapons you have to drive those heartless enemies back.
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The new map pack and Nazi-Zombie map is available to all Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 owners for 800 Microsoft points ($10). The PC update is scheduled to be released at a later date.
New iPhone To Include 3D Graphics Chip |
Posted by:Church on Jun 12th, 2009, 23:48:10
Next week, Apple will be unveiling the new iPhone that is set for release in July at their annual world-wide developers conference. The new iPhone will contain a 3D graphics chip allowing real games to be played and will operate on a faster network.
It is also believed that third party developers will be able to develop adaptations like keyboards and gaming controllers which will assist with the new games that will be playable on the iPhone. Rumours suggest that Apple is hiring game developers to create games and could be opening a store dedicated to these games.
Due to the iPhone's dedicated Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), some might expect high battery consumption in the new device. But Apple has addressed the issue, as they have gotten rid of the backlight, which was the main battery consumer in the iPhone.
The new iPhone could break through a price barrier, making it more affordable for the average person. This will force other companies to drop their prices to meet the standard, which will increase competition in the phone market.
"Every $100 you move down in consumer electronics brings in a lot more customers. Ninety-nine dollars is a psychological price point, so that's a real barrier to move through,” said analyst Michael Gartenberg from the Interpret market research firm. "It becomes something people can afford — it becomes an affordable luxury."
The upcoming release of the new iPhone could have a huge impact on the phone industry when it is released on July 17. So be vigilant, as more details will be released as the date draws closer.
Imagine burning the midnight oil on a project for several years only to have somebody else announce it for you at a relatively low-key press event. That’s exactly what went down at the recent William Blair Growth Stock Conference, where Electronic Arts COO John Pleasants casually alluded to the existence of DICE’s Battlefield 3.
"I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden and was highly impressed by the way the team is working on that product," said Pleasants, who went on to clarify that although the highly anticipated title will not launch this financial year, it is “looking very good”.
It would certainly seem that diehard Battlefield fans won’t be short of a fix anytime soon, what with Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield 3 on the horizon. Perhaps it’s time to give the lovely chaps at Oxford University Press a call to discuss coinage of the phrase ‘franchise-spam’.
Valve's L4D Team Releases L4D Authoring Tools SDK |
Valve has recently released a beta version of their own Authoring Tools pack for their popular zombie apocalypse co-op game, Left 4 Dead, through Steam's "Tools" tab.
This free download allows L4D's PC players to create new maps and campaigns, as well as edit character skins and spawn placements. Want more witches and tanks in one place? Well, with the Authoring Tools pack, you got it!
Valve also announced that they would be updating the matchmaking system so that online players can view one's work with the Authoring Tools based on a server join process, much like that of Counter Strike: Source or Team Fortress 2.
For many L4D players, this release has been a fun and immersible way to bring their own imagination into the game, in order to create a refreshing new experience for other fellow apocalypse enthusiasts. Sadly, Xbox 360 players of L4D won't be able to enjoy the features of the Authoring Tools pack.
Read the official announcement for more info.
How to Encode Video in High Quality |
After a barrage of questions concerning technique when encoding and syncing a Shoutcast and FRAPS replay our fellow member espressojim has come up with a detailed guide on how to do so. Of course he was not alone. Members aramonkg, Phazorx, and Cheating Accusations Forum Moderator Sean1604 also helped out. Aramonkg is also the organizer of the vCoH Flackback event, which utilizes many elements of the guide.
Specifically the guide has to do with the difficulties of not only syncing the video but also using quality encoding so that the video is of only the highest quality. To do so CoH players can use the specific CoH profile made for the meGUI encoder designed by Phazorx. And all you others don't fret, this applies to more than just CoH video enthusiasts, for other games you can use the virtualDub method for general encoding. This is certainly a valuable resource for professional and amateur shoutcasters alike.
Click here to be redirected to the guide itself!
Improve Your Skills with Quake Live |
Posted by:Automatic on Jun 05th, 2009, 21:34:33
Relatively recently, the high-profile upcoming shooter Quake Live was released into a public beta testing phase. This new online remake of classic Quake multiplayer is available online now for the low price of FREE! Quake Live is currently in the beta-testing stage and anyone is free to sign up for the open beta on the official website. The only thing that is required is a valid email address and the completion of a short sign-up process which takes all of five minutes. The game downloads to your computer following registration and is a relatively small file which should download in around 10 to 15 minutes.
While the game downloads, you are able to play a trial game which should accurately test your skill level. Once your skill level is determined and the game finishes downloading, you are able to venture online.
Quake Live has a great number of servers online already arranged by location and skill level. You should try to find a server that is around your skill level and near your geographical location for the best possible playing experience.
Quake Live is a very challenging game that will quickly improve your first-person shooter skills in ALL GAMES. The concept behind Quake Live is simple: its just you in a wacky map going up against several other players online. You spawn into the game in a random location armed only with a really bad basic machine gun and absolutely no armor. You must quickly explore the map and pick-up better weapons, ammo, armor, and power-ups and destroy other players before they destroy you.
Advanced weapons, such as the lightning gun shown here, are extremely powerful.
Classic Quake weapons appear in the game including the lightning gun which deals constant heavy damage in the form of a concentrated beam of lighting, the rail gun which offers extraordinary power instantly but suffers from a long reload time and a difficult aiming system, and the nail gun which fires shotgun-like barrages of nails at opponents. Another entertaining Quake Live weapon is the Grenade Launcher which obviously fires grenades. The trick is these grenades do not actually explode until around two seconds after they are fired. And in Quake Live two seconds is a long time. Basically when using the grenade launcher you need to predict where your opponent will be moving to next and pre-fire there. This is also true of the rocket launcher which takes quite some time to travel to its intended target. All players start with a machine gun which performs poorly. Other available weapons in the game are a basic shotgun, grenades, a plasma gun, a chain gun, proximity mines, fists, and an ultimate weapon called the "Big F***ing Gun" (or simply the BFG) are also included in the beta version and allow for some entertaining kills.
Several different armor varieties and extra health are also found throughout the maps of Quake Live and provide quite an edge in a fight. Additional powerups such as quad damage (4x damage for 30 seconds), regenerating health for a short period, a speed boost for a short period, and even the ability to fly for a short time can be found in hidden areas of the levels.
Maybe you would like to kill people with light purple rail gun lasers? Perhaps christmas colors? In Quake Live it is possible.
All of the maps encourage fast-based twitch combat and encounters occur extremely rapidly. Player movement speed is without a doubt much faster than the average speed in other games. In addition, all of the maps also have booster pads which can be used to propel your character upwards to higher locations. With characters zooming up and around picking up upgrades and killing each other in close quarters, playing Quake Live is an exciting experience with no time for boredom.
Quake Live takes gaming back to a time when things were simpler. Its just you going up against others in frantic shooter combat. Quake Live offers many game modes including team deathmatch, free-for-all, capture the flag, duel, and clan arena. No matter what game mode you are playing, combat will be fast paced and require excellent timing, movement, and aiming skills.
Quake Live is based on one central concept: player skill. In Quake Live, the game continuously updates your overall gameplay statistics in a public profile and reminds you in-game frequently how you are doing. If you do not come in first in entire server in a game, then Quake Live automatically marks it down as a “loss” on your record. Quake Live is a challenging game, but one that will make you a better overall FPS player than just about any game on the market right now. It requires superb player skill to even be average, and fights are fast-paced and unforgiving. If you are in a server that is above your skill level, you will know right away because you will probably die around 10 times. In a row. Without killing anyone else.
Quake Live is a brilliant game which can be played in full screen with great graphics. The game engine is modeled off of the previous Quake III engine, but has been heavily modified and improved. The game also allows you to track your recent opponents online and customize your player characters appearance. Everything from a two-legged hopping alien (yes, like a kangaroo) to a hardcore space marine are available.
A typical Quake Live screenshot. Keep in mind that unlike other games, in Quake Live players will recieve relatively little to no damage from falling from extreme heights such as shown here.
It is also notable that Quake Live already has a large competitive scene and several established leagues including a very popular ESL 1v1 ladder.
Finally, two other notable game features are an already full collection of 32 maps and an offline practice mode. The current 32 maps are absolutely wonderful and designed with competitive multiplayer gaming in mind from the start. Many of the maps have crazy twists such as underwater segments and all have numerous stories with teleporters and booster elevetators meaning combat is even more intense.
Do you want to improve your hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and overall gaming skill? Interested in how you will fare in the unforgiving world of Quake Live? Looking for something entertaining to do for the next hour or two? Do you want to relive the glory of classic video games of another era?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions then head over to the Quake Live website and register to download this superior free game! Take it from us, Quake Live is well worth a download for practicing your FPS skills in general and is highly entertaining. Plus you cannot beat the price.
Left 4 Dead 2 Preview: Characters, Weapons, Locations and more! |
As you may already know, Valve recently announced a much anticipated sequel to their popular co-op survival horror game Left 4 Dead. Appropriately called Left 4 Dead 2, the game will introduce many new game play and story elements to it’s players. GameReplays.org is here to give you a small look inside what will be Left 4 Dead 2.
New Setting
Left 4 Dead 2 will take place mainly in the southern United States. Apparently, Valve is planning to order the campaigns (Five new ones!) in a story board fashion instead of 5 different campaigns with different endings. While the individual campaigns will still have differences that set them apart from the other campaigns, playing them in order will make the game seem more like what Left 4 Dead was meant to feel to the players: a zombie apocalypse movie.
The beginning of the campaign series is said to be in Savannah, Georgia - where the four survivors meet - and end in New Orleans, Louisiana. While only few people have had the opportunity to play a demo campaign, the E3 teaser trailer does a pretty good job of depicting New Orleans during a zombie apocalypse… or New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, whichever one it is.
New Characters
Four new survivors have been confirmed for Left 4 Dead 2. Unlike the four survivors in the original Left 4 Dead, these newcomers each have a much more interesting backstory to them. There’s Coach, a high school football coach from Savannah, Georgia; Rochelle, a news reporter from Cleveland, Ohio who was reporting in Savannah when all hell broke loose; a mechanic named Ellis and - perhaps the most popular out of the four - a gambler named Nick, donning a stylish white suit to match his otherwise suspicious attitude.
Coach (left) and Ellis fight off a group of zombies
New Zombies
Along with the plentiful common infected, a few new types of Special Infected will join the already worryingly well-equipped ranks of the original four. The one depicted in the trailer is called The Charger or The Rammer. The Charger is similar to a Tank but not quite as powerful. Instead of almost instantly incapacitating a survivor, the Charger will charge (surprised?) into the group of survivors and send them flying. When encountering a lone survivor, the Charger will pick him/her up and slam them repeatedly into the ground until the others come to help. As of now, no other new Special Infected have been announced or shown.
A Charger about to attack a helpless survivor.
New Weapons
Ah, the part we’ve all been waiting for. Valve is obviously adding in a lot of new content for the survivors to face and what better way to supplement it than new weapons!
Melee Weapons
The most entertaining addition is probably the plethora of melee weapons available to the survivors. Whether or not they will have their own slot is unknown but what is known is that shoving will be possible with melee weapons as well as offensive attacks. As with guns, melee weapons will also deal friendly fire damage.
The fire axe is one of the most notable melee weapons so far. It will be able to hit many close-range enemies at one time and is very devastating. It will also take contact zone into account and harm certain areas of a body more than others.
The chainsaw is yet another fun addition. Very little is known about it but it seems to deal more damage on a single enemy, rather than trying to hit many at once.
A better view of the fire axe and chainsaw.
Along with the fire axe and chainsaw are the frying pan and the baseball bat. Very little is known about either of these weapons to make note of them. However, the frying pan apparently makes a very amusing noise when an enemy is struck by one.
Nick seen wielding a frying pan.
Ranged Weapons
Replacing the Uzi from Left 4 Dead will be a silenced MAC – 10 Sub-Machine gun. It will have the same rate of fire.
A new semi-automatic sniper rifle will be added though no model of the actual rifle has been seen yet.
The shotgun models have been remade completely. The pump shotgun will take on a new look, pictured below, while the combat auto-shotgun has been modeled after the classic SPAS-12 design.
A close up view of the pump shotgun.
An auto-shotgun lying on a table sighted by a survivor wielding a fire axe.
As for pistols, a Glock and a USP/Sig Sauer model have both appeared in early demos. They are reported to have the same strength and rate of fire as the pistols in Left 4 Dead.
A survivor reloading his Sig Sauer pistol.
The same survivor reloading his Glock pistol.
Along with the addition of new gun models is the incendiary ammo. The incendiary ammo is found in special incendiary ammo caches - obviously much rarer than regular ammo caches. When a survivor receives the incendiary ammo, any bullet they fire in the first clip will set any infected it hits on fire. This is relative to the amount of ammo in a clip, rather than the actual clip itself. It is unknown how pistols are affected by this.
A survivor picking up incendiary ammo for his MAC - 10.
Gameplay Changes
Since the chapters in Left 4 Dead 2 will take place in daytime as well as at night, this gives Valve the opportunity to make different game mechanics function according to the time of day in-game. The mechanics for the witch have been reworked to this extent. At night, the witch will do what she does in Left 4 Dead: sit down and cry, waiting for a survivor to startle her. However, during the daytime, the witch will be seen wandering around instead of sitting down. This makes a wandering Witch much harder to avoid or crown (kill with a single shot to the head). No more crouching and hugging the wall past the witch - Survivors will have to find a new method of getting around this deadly creature.
The common infected are receiving some small changes as well. The survivors will encounter common infected that turned while in hazmat suits. This means that these 'hazmat'-infected will be impervious to some natural harm - such as fire. That’s right, the fortunate infected with hazmat suits will be able to run through the fires started by Molotov cocktails and gas cans. The suits obviously do not make them anymore impervious to bullets, however.
Along with the classic survival sections appearing in Left 4 Dead 2 - which force the survivors to fend off a rushing horde of infected for a short period of time as a result of a tripped alarm, moving vehicle or general noise-making - Valve is adding in a new segment called the Gauntlet. This is essentially the opposite of the classic survival sections. The original ones required a survivor to open an emergency door, decouple a train car or rig a van in order to progress and essentially complete a chapter. During gauntlet segments, the survivors must make their way towards whatever is making the noise in order to stop the horde and continue through the level.
Valve has implemented the gauntlet sections and The Charger additions in order to force players to move and counteract corner/closet camping tactics. Combined with more common infected to kill and an improved version of Left 4 Dead's Director AI, the difficulty and variety of Left 4 Dead 2 will increase substantially above the difficulty of Left 4 Dead.
Of course, Valve has given Left 4 Dead 2 a face-lift with heightened character and environment details, more realistic art that reflects the culture of the settings and - of course - more detailed gore and blood splattering.
Left 4 Dead 2 is currently scheduled to be released on November 17th! Be sure to check back in the future for updates on it as information is released!
Microsoft & Sony Hit The Motion Market |
In spite of being late to the motion control scene, the devices unveiled by console giants Microsoft and Sony at this year’s E3 expo clearly surpass the original Wiimote in terms of accuracy and realism.
At their press event on Monday, Microsoft unveiled a peripheral that they have dubbed ‘Project Natal’ – a motion sensitive camera that incorporates the player’s entire body into the game. Whilst it may sound like a flagrant rip off of the Eye Toy, Natal’s ability to replicate the nuances of the user’s movement on-screen is actually quite amazing. Nowhere was its sensitivity better demonstrated than in Peter Molyneux's preview of 'Milo', a piece of software that allows players to interact with a sophisticated artificial intelligence that fashions its responses in accordance to your body language and facial expressions.
 Microsoft's Natal
Despite not affording players the same freedom as Natal, Sony's new motion control technology was certainly not lacking in precision. Players are required to hold two wands whose movements are tracked by the PS3 camera, allowing you to perform many in-game actions with your hands. The nerd inside me wants to see a Harry Potter game that capitalizes on this peripheral - EXPECTO PATRONUM!
 Sony's unnnamed 'wand' technology
Whilst the mainstream media swoops on news like this, heralding it as further proof that videogames are finally becoming playable by individuals who aren't freakish 12 fingered recluses, seasoned gamers such as yourselves are likely to view the spectacle as some kind of passing novelty. For the most part however, it looks as if motion controls are here to stay. I put it to you to discuss whether or not there is any future for these peripherals in the realm of serious competetive gaming.
BlizzCon Tickets Sold Out |
Posted by:Lilbubba on Jun 04th, 2009, 10:29:07
Blizzard has announced that both batches of BlizzCon tickets have sold out. These tickets sold out with blazing speed in just seconds. Did you miss out on getting a ticket this year? Don't worry too much, GameReplays.org has you covered!
GameReplays.org is giving away three tickets to BlizzCon to the three finalists of the StarCraft Videocast Competition. The contest started on May 27th and ends on June 15th at midnight GMT, so there is still plenty of time to get your videocast in.
To find out more information about the official contest and rules, visit the StarCraft Videocast Competition newspost.
Don't forget about the pay-per-view version of BlizzCon that DIRECTV will be offering. In fact, DIRECTV is even offering to give the pay-per-view event free to new customers who sign up for their satellite service between June 1st through until July 31st. You will also receive the World of Warcraft special in-game pet "Grunty the Murloc Marine" and access to the internet stream version of the BlizzCon event.
Supreme Commander 2 Trailer Released |
While Supreme Commander 2 may have been announced last November, the people over at Gas Powered Games would like to remind us that they are still working, as they have released a brand new trailer. While it does not reveal anything about the mechanics of the gameplay it does tell us that the UEF, Cybran, and Aeon are again at intergalactic war. No big surprise there. However, the trailer heavily alludes to the secrets of all three factions.
Gas Power Games was acquired by Square Enix last November. It appears that Square Enix is attempting to touch upon the RTS/RTT market with games like Supreme Commander 2 and Order of War, part of their ongoing agenda to penetrate the western game market in general. This is somewhat of a departure from their usual making of eastern RPG titles such as Final Fantasy.
“We see great opportunities in European and North American markets, both of which are expected to be maintaining sustainable growth over these coming years,” president of Square Enix, Ltd. Yoichi Wada said.
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Keep checking GameReplays for more news on the upcoming Supreme Commander sequel!
Posted by:Church on Jun 02nd, 2009, 13:01:10
Valve - the creators of Left 4 Dead - today announced there will be a sequel to the co-operative best selling thriller.
The sequel will be exclusive to Xbox 360 and PC like the first version of the game and is set to be released on the 17th of November this year!
"A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008's top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored game play made possible by the AI Director," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games."
The following video will give you a sneak peak on the upcoming new sequel. A further in-depth article coming soon to GameReplays.org will give more details on the new characters and features of Left 4 Dead 2, including the newly improved AI director, weather effects and melee weapons!
[youtube]c5Zx-WnwhYw[/youtube]
Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2 Unveiled |
Posted by:Church on Jun 01st, 2009, 10:22:36
The Call Of Duty: World At War map pack will be released in early June as promised by Treyarch! This preview allows you to have a sneak peak into the layouts of the three new maps, allowing for some strategic planning before the release day arrives.
The three new maps that come with the second map pack are Sub Pens, Banzai and Corrosion which will cater for all types of players.
Sub Pens is the first map - looks like there will be a lot of close combat going on. Automatic weapons will dominate this map with the right positioning but a skilled rifle user could do equally as well with care.
Bonzai does not provide many hiding spots, giving snipers a huge advantage on this map. The waterfalls in the map will function as a interesting obstruction here by obscuring other player's vision while giving the gifted competitor a quick kill against a distracted opponent.
Corrosion contains multiple levels allowing for snipers to pick off players at lower levels. The dotted outlines in the corners of the map represent metal pipelines attached to the ceiling that soldiers can travel through. The map contains many open spaces which will require you to be very aware of your surroundings.
The new maps will be available in June so keep tuned for the more accurate release date, coming soon!
R.U.S.E. Gameplay Walkthrough Released |
Many players are probably asking themselves what makes Ubisoft's R.U.S.E. different from other games? Sure, they have highlighted deception as a major element of their game, but is that really unique? In current generation games, in addition to fog of war, feints, flank attacks, and fast teching all lend themselves deception.
Well, to make the distinction clear, Ubisoft has released a gameplay walkthrough video which reveals a lot about the gameplay of R.U.S.E.
[youtube]AieV7dX9a_0&NR=1[/youtube]
[youtube]nJrvfeMF9-U&feature=related[/youtube]
Although radio silence and deciphering are not incredibly original ideas, they are just the tip of the iceberg according to Ubisoft.
In case you didn’t notice though, there were a few interesting features that were not emphasized in the video.- The smooth transition and scaling of the Iriszoom Engine.
- The scale of the game appears to be around divisional size in terms of unit scale.
- The target system that indicates whether attacking one unit with another would result in favorable outcome or not.
- Little attention appears to be paid to historical accuracy, with numerous tank models appearing in the Battle of Monte Cassino years before they were deployed.
- Base building was mentioned as well in the end, so we can probably expect to see some amount of teching.
That's all for this week! Keep checking GameReplays for more news on R.U.S.E.!
The Lord Of The Rings: Aragorn's Quest Trailer Revealed |
Posted by:Church on May 31st, 2009, 00:35:37
After Warner Brothers announced the making of a new Lord Of The Rings Role-Playing Game - Aragorn’s Quest. They have recently released a trailer showing the main features and aspects of Warner Brothers' latest addition to the ongoing series of Lord of the Rings games.
Although the game has been aimed at the family genre, it could still be a great addition to the Lord Of The Rings series and is worth checking out for any enthusiasts among us.
[youtube]I-iux08I0K8[/youtube]
Last Batch Of BlizzCon Tickets On Sale Now |
Posted by:Church on May 30th, 2009, 22:02:19
The final batch of tickets to Blizzard’s upcoming BlizzCon convention are on sale now. As of Saturday 10PM PDT, the tickets are on sale so you will have to be quick to get your hands on one - these are the last few for sale before the convention!
The convention will be held in Annaheim, California on the 21st and 22nd of August. The tickets are selling for $125 US dollars each and can be purchased on the BlizzCon Website. It is advised that you read up on the Ticket Queue System before purchasing a ticket however.
As another bonus incentive, all attendees or watchers of the BlizzCon live cast will be receiving a StarCraft Space Marine pet on the game World of Warcraft! What are you waiting for?
Posted by:TDA on May 27th, 2009, 07:02:12
This is it! Red3.org's secret project has finally been launched and you are in the right place. You are about to experience the Premier Episode of Red3TV!
Red3TV is a monthly broadcast from Gamereplays.org that features weekly updates on the running King of the Hill Tournament as well as breaking community news. The monthly broadcast each month will feature: - Red Alert 3 Community & eSports News
- Interviews with Developers, Top players and Community Leaders!
- Video Tips of the Week
- The first match in each round of the Gamereplays.org Red3TV King of the Hill tournament
Watch Red3TV on the Red Alert 3 Portal
GameReplays is Looking for Pre-Release Modern Warfare 2 Staff! |
Posted by:Herz on May 25th, 2009, 16:02:18
Yesterday Infinity Ward released the first major gameplay trailer for Modern Warfare 2. Even though only details of the single player have been released, we can easily expect a significant multiplayer following throughout the E-Sports world. Call of Duty 4 was a major hit for both casual and competitive players and Modern Warfare 2 is shaping up to even bigger than its predecessor.
Due to the amount of expected pre-release content from Infinity Ward and extensive preparation from the various E-Sports sites, we will be starting up the Modern Warfare 2 portal earlier than originally planned. At this stage in the portal, we are looking for three to four dedicated, enthusiastic individuals looking to create content about this game's pre-release. Specifically we are looking for mainly Writers and Strategy Specialists! Please note before applying that before the game's release Strategy Specialists will be mainly looking for news from the developer and leagues.
We are looking for the following conditions:
- FPS experience (list games in application)
- E-Sports experience (not required, but a major plus)
- Knowledge of the English language
- Knowledge of how GameReplays works
- Time and commitment (a certain number of articles each week)
If you feel you can adhere to these conditions and are willing to help the FPS community here at GameReplays, please send a PM to Herz stating what position you're interested, what makes you qualified, any previous experience pertaining to your position, and why you want to be on the pre-release Modern Warfare 2 staff.
Ever miss the good old days where Pershings battled the Tiger Ace, the super Crocodile decimated enemy troops, the Opposing Fronts factions didn't even exist, or where the amazing micro of pros like Aniketos and nystrom was the hottest topic? Well, so does our fellow member, aramonkg.
He is satisfying his nostalgia by reviewing selected classics from the Hall of Fame. Now of course, not every one can be bothered to reinstall and update patches individually to view them. So, to make them available for the entire forum, he has recorded them and posted them on FileFront, along with a Shoutcast for each.
Aramonkg adds:
I am also open to making a video for other replays of the current patch installed as well, so you can suggest one in this thread. However, please provide some good reason why it should have a video (if the replay thread is not sufficient). Well standing players corroborating a specific replay is also welcome.
So come join aramonkg in his nostalgic trip back to the good ‘ole days of vCoH.
Blizzard Watch: Diablo 3 Update |
GameReplays readers who follow Blizzard Entertainment and its franchises will be pleased to know that the company has recently updated their website with some brand new information on its upcoming title, Diablo 3.
The update consists of some brand new screenshots and concept art of some of the enemies you will be slaughtering in Diablo 3, most notably the Fallen Ones that fans of Diablo 2 will recognize.
Also included in the post is information and lore fully describing the new monsters included in the update. An embedded video on the page depicts a montage of the new art and also some in-game renders of the new monsters.
As ever, Blizzard indulges those of us who enjoy the lore aspects of their franchises:
"As hard as it is to believe, the fallen ones were once exalted demons of the Burning Hells. They served as Azmodan's hands, performing acts that he would not, could not involve himself in. They were the instrument of Azmodan's first failed attempt to usurp power from Diablo and his brothers, and after that failure, the fallen were subjected to the full wrath of Diablo. They were twisted into small, ridiculous imps, in contrast to their previously powerful forms."
While this may not be earth-shattering news, Blizzard fanatics may still want to head over and check out the update.
Square Enix Announces Order of War |
Square Enix is pushing the new WWII title, Order of War, out through its design studio, Squaresoft. Although there is only a trailer, a few interesting tidbits of information about the game have been released.
First off, it is a much larger scale than most current RTS's. For example, the up to 1,000 units are rarely individually controlled, but more often as units probably around a platoon size. In addition, there is no base building. Instead, players gain resources through map control and then call in units from off the map. No information has been released concerning teching or not.
However, to the cheer of many unsatisfied CoH gamers, the game will include Russians, as well as Americans, and of course Germans. During the campaign, you will lead the American forces through the liberation of Europe, and the German defense during Operation Bagration. The comments from the developers also indicate they wish to create a game that truly captures the destructive nature of WWII, something the massive P-47 rocket attack runs demonstrate well in the video.
Whether or not Squaresoft's first western title will mature into a classic or a bargain bin game is still largely up to question. Watch the trailer below to get your own impression of Order of War:
[youtube]kMDh3j6E7Pg[/youtube]
Posted by:Church on May 23rd, 2009, 01:12:29
The developer of Duke Nukem Forever - 3D Realms - is still planning to release their unfinished game as they, today, released a press statement that they are not closing.
"While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise," said one of the developers.
Last week 3D Realms announced their closure because of financial reasons, which was followed by an accusation from Take-Two claiming that they owed them millions of dollars. Take-Two filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms and their claims were denied by the court.
Take-Two offered 3D Realms a last minute opportunity to buy the full rights to the work-in-progress, but was denied. The lawsuit was seen as a bullying tactic to acquire the game, but it appears that 3D Realms has successfully bounced back.
New Lord Of The Rings Game Revealed |
Posted by:Church on May 22nd, 2009, 11:58:44
Warner Brothers today revealed their first Lord Of The Rings-based game after their recent acquisition of The Lord Of The Rings license for a period of 3 years.
The new game that is set to preview in E3 is Lord Of The Rings: Aragorn’s Quest. The new game has been targeted towards the 'family' genre and will give off a more friendly and colourful image of Middle Earth than previous titles.
In the game you will be put in the shoes of the heir to Gondor’s throne with whom you will fight through a variety of quests using Aragorn's lethal skills.
No explicit details have been revealed on what platforms the game will be released on. As the time of release draws closer, more in-depth details should hopefully be made public.
For many GameReplays.org gamers, the Steam service from Valve is the vehicle from which we launch all of our games, keep in touch with friends, schedule events and organise tournaments. With more and more publishers making their titles available on Steam, it becomes more and more necessary for fans of the Steam service to stay in contact with it while on the go.
To meet this need, Domenic Maiocchi has written an application for Apple's iPhone called Gears. This gadget is designed to give Steam users and iPhone owners a way of accessing their gaming community while on the move or unable to access their computers. Interested readers can head over to the website to check out what the app is all about and if it appeals to their mobile gaming sensibilities.
The app was released earlier this month and costs $2.99 USD. The app has a surprisingly long feature list considering it was not written or programmed by Valve:- Steam Nickname
- User Avatar
- User Location
- Online Status
- Bi-Weekly Gameplay Stats
- View Your Friends
- View Your Friend's Online Status
- Automatically Updated
- View Online Friends At A Glance
- View Your Games
- Bi-Weekly Gameplay Time
- Access Complete Game Information
- Purchase Games On The Go
- Search For Old Friends Or Enemies
Not into Steam? Don't like the iPhone? This application may not be necessary for all of us but for those of you who use both you will be happy to know that the service is now available.
Men of War Review By Fldash |
Posted by:Hyggan on May 21st, 2009, 19:35:20
One of our members fldash has written an excellent review for the new RTT game Men of War. The review goes into several in-depth discussions of the game and it's features. So if you're interested in getting Men of War or if you just like RTT games, you should definetly read the entire review!
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the Company of Heroes series was a fantastic WW2-themed strategy game. However, despite my love for it (and years of work modding it into a persistent MMO-RTS), there were some things that I never enjoyed about the game; including the base building tedium, the incredibly arcade-esque feel and lack of any type of support for modding.
If we look back, two years prior to CoH, Best Way and 1C Company released an RTS that was overlooked by so many, the title? Soldiers: Heroes of World War II. The features? Realistic and detailed physics models, destructible environments, the ability to directly control any unit on the battlefield, and most importantly simulation style gameplay without the base building tedium. Best Way didn't stop there, 1 day after the release of CoH, they released the sequel to Soldiers: HOWW2, Faces of War. Unfortunately, competing with CoH was never in the cards for FOW, and S:HOWW2 was long forgotten (and often overlooked itself).
Now two and a half years later, Best Way and 1C Company are back again, this time with Men of War. Improving of all the aspects of Soldiers: HOWW2and FOW, they are once again trying to prove their series belongs in the collection of strategy gamers and World War 2 enthusiasts.
Men of War contains many of the great features, of it's predecessors, such as individual unit inventories and weapon skill levels and the ability to toggle direct control of any unit. However, simply stating them without some explanation of how they influence the gameplay probably isn't enough for those of you unfamiliar with the series.
Each and every unit (including AT guns, tanks and individual soldiers) have their own inventory. This includes everything from medical kits and grenades to bullets and tank shells to vehicle fuel. While this may seem like a micromanagement nightmare, it really turns into an extremely satisfying experience of managing your troops and vehicles (including their crews) - yes, vehicles must have drivers to move, and it's possible to commandeer them if you are able to kill the crew without seriously damaging the vehicle.
Along with an individual inventory, each soldier has a skill set. The tank crew that just escaped from that burning Sherman, might not be as effective with their scavenged BARs as their original owners. This means you must take care when using troops for certain tasks. For example, when assaulting an enemy in a building, you will need to make sure your men have automatic weapons and high skill using them peaking around the doors inside. You'll only make the mistake of sending riflemen to take a building once.
Increasing the sense of attachment to your units is direct control mode which allows you to take control of any unit in the game, seemingly turning the game into a third-person shooter or tank simulation. Moving the unit with the arrow keys, your mouse pointer becomes the weapon targeting location allowing you to fire well placed shots on enemy tank weak spots or executing head shots on unsuspecting enemy troops.
However, whatever you do, be careful. Gone are the days of retreating your men to your HQ for reinforcement (a la CoH). Once they're gone, they're gone; although certain missions and all multiplayer modes allow you to call in reinforcements based on either a set income or game timer (allowing you only to call in the heaviest of units later in the game)
Touching more-so on the physics and destruction models, the physics engine calculates impact angle of all projectiles, making it important to aim where tanks are vulnerable and to aim at high angles, avoiding flat angles. Fortunately, the game helps you with this information when aiming (unless its disabled and frequently is in multiplayer matches). In addition, the game calculates structural damage loss from repeated hits on the same piece of armor. Vehicles have more damage states than I can explain. Tanks can lose treads, vehicles can lose wheels. Engines can be destroyed, turrets and firing mechanisms (AT guns) get damaged, they can catch on fire and explode, as well as a plethora of other damage situations. Some are repairable (assuming you have a repair kit and a free unit) others leave you stranded for good or the unit destroyed.
Moving away from the game play and on to what there is to play, we see that MOW features 3 campaigns (USSR, Germany, and Allied) and a few bonus missions. This equates to about two dozen hair raising, heart pounding missions. But they aren't for the feint of heart. These missions are tough and those without strong will to succeed may be quickly frustrated, luckily, the single player features the ability to modify the gamespeed on 5 different levels. This allows you to slow down the game when things get hectic in order to issue more orders and control the situation better. If you are still having trouble, all the campaign missions can be played in cooperative mode in multiplayer!
Speaking of multiplayer, there are a variety of game modes and you are given the ability to play as one of five factions, US, UK, USSR, Germany, and Japan (Japan will be added in a free content patch). Out of the box, you are given access to over 50 units to use in multiplayer, but there are modifications released that allow you to play with any unit in the game (more on modifications later). The multiplayer modes include Combat (Deathmatch), Frontlines (Attack/Defend), Victory Flag (One flag to capture/hold), and Battle Zones (sort of like BF2 capture the area mode). For hosting custom games, there are a ton of options, including the ability to have Infantry-only or Tank-only matches. Another great feature is the ability to transfer units from one player to another, allowing a great deal of tactical strategy in team games. And, for the first time in the series, there is a multiplayer ranking mode with automatch (still pending a patch).
Men of War is also extremely easy to create mod's for. New units can be added (support for animating them as well), and there are a few promising modifications such as the single player (Dynamic Campaign Generator) and the multiplayer Germans Soldiers Mod (GSM). There is also a modification called Realism Rebalanced that's great to use with the DCG mod.
All this said, Men of War isn't without it's faults. The campaign missions can, at times, be really infuriating due to their difficulty and the voice acting in the campaign is atrocious (but it does grow on you). And while the AI is improved, it still can be frustrating to see them get themselves killed doing something incredibly stupid.
Support-wise, the game has a variety of publishers which has led to a disaster of a first patch. 5 different patch versions were released, and some publishers (such as Direct2Drive) still haven't released the patch to their customers. I have hope that this will get better with additional patches. The requirements also state the game is unsupported on XP/Vista x64 however, there are many people using those operating systems without issue.
Overall, Men of War is a must have for any strategy gaming enthusiast and World War II fan, especially those who enjoy a simulation. And while not as 'easy' to pickup as Company of Heroes, those that do will find the experience much more rewarding.
Unfortunately, this title, like the ones before it, may be the best title that no one buys. Hopefully the increasing availability of it over previous games in the series, such as it being available on Direct2Drive and Steam increases it's popularity.
Men of War is available on Steam for $26.99 or on Direct2Drive for $14.95!
Demo available here!
** All images were taken from 1C Publishing Men of War Gallery. Link **
Team Fortress 2: Sniper Update |
Posted by:Church on May 18th, 2009, 11:06:59
A sniper will always have difficulty with hitting a moving target - even the best can’t always predict the movement of the player. By the time they have stood still, they could be out of your reach.
The new update from Valve for Team Fortress 2 introduces the Huntsman’s Longbow, an old-fashioned 'bow and arrow' weapon which holds enough power to pin your enemies dead corpse to the wall. The Huntsman’s Longbow comes with 18 arrows and needs a 1 second charge for full power shots.
Along with the Huntsman’s Longbow there is another addition - the Razorback. The Razorback is a tribal shield that has a car battery attached, punishing any sneaky player trying to back-stab you i a fairly brutal fashion: The second he touches you he will be electrocuted with the force of 10,00 volts, forcing him to wait for his knife to cool down before repeating the trick.
Another feature added to the Team Fortress 2 saga is the red spy. The following video explains all about the mystery man.
[youtube]TGIgE_94l28[/youtube]
Hot on the heels of these new toys for the sniper to play with come some nifty new tricks for a spy to employ when taking out enemies.
The spy watch will confuse your attackers with its special abilities. The 'Dead Ringer' watch hides you when you are in conflict with your enemy by making you invisible and projecting a fake corpse to distract them while you finish them with a killing blow. The 'Cloak and Dagger' watch allows you to remain invisible at all times as long as you remain still, otherwise the cloak starts to lose energy as you move.
There is yet another addition in the Sniper and Spy updates - new maps. Sawmill is an old, abandoned Sawmill above a secret underground spy base; also in the map there are 2 life-threatening saw blades that could cut you open instantly. The other map is Nucleus - a map that is set on top of a radioactive pit leaving the only way to travel around as along the catwalks.
Finally, this update brings a brand new game mode - Payload Race. Similar to the payload mode already in existence, this mode gives both teams carts to transport, forcing a team to divide their attention between getting their ow cart their and keeping the enemies one well away.
GameReplays is Looking for Battlefield Staff! |
Posted by:Herz on May 13th, 2009, 02:53:01
GameReplays is looking to expand its coverage of FPS and our first expansion will be a portal for the Battlefield franchise! The Battlefield series is known for its excellent game-play and teamwork elements throughout the FPS world. Many top-tier leagues such as CEVO and CAL ran leagues and ladders for this series for several years after the game's release.
Keeping this competitive value in mind, it's likely that Battlefield 1943, which releases in one month, will continue the tradition. Bad Company 2 will also be coming out in the winter with a PC version. As a result of these two major releases in 2009, it's only logical that we open up a portal for this award-winning series.
We are currently looking for all staff positions: Strategy Specialist, Writer, Game Administrator, and more! If you're interested in working on the Battlefield portal, please message Herz for more details. Please include your desired position and if possible include any previous FPS experience. Any previous jobs held on GR should also be included!
We hope all of you who have loved the BF series over the years will help us add to the FPS family on GameReplays!
Develop 100 Publishes Top 100 Game Studios |
Posted by:Lilbubba on May 13th, 2009, 01:23:25
Develop 100 is an annual publication that ranks the world's most successful game studios. Game studios are ranked based upon revenue, review scores, and industry standing. The 2009 report has finally been published. Wonder who is the leading game studio? This year there was a big surprise!
Last year, Develop 100 reported that gaming giant Nintendo ranked as number one, but this year someone else has taken their place. It is no surprise that Blizzard Entertainment, developer of industry leading titles such as World of WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, have taken over the number one position. Just take a brief moment to consider their financial standing, with over $100 million USD in monthly revenue from just WoW subscriptions alone! Not to mention the fact that highly anticipated sequels like StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3 will be hitting shelves soon. This company has a proven track record of being a very stable company in their industry.
Nintendo came in second place this year, and many other gaming giants followed. Other big names in the top 10 include: Rockstar, Electronic Arts, CapCom, Ubisoft, Infinity Ward, Epic Games, and Bethesda to name just a few. Despite the economic downturn, these companies have weathered the storm and came out on top.
Looking for a successful career with a stable gaming giant? Look no further than Blizzard Entertainment. They currently have several job openings, and continually look for talented and enthusiastic employees.
Online Gaming in the Middle Kingdom |
Posted by:cl0ak on May 08th, 2009, 01:29:15
With nearly 300 million internet users, online gaming was bound to take off in China. US-China Today, a publication out of USC, recently ran an article titled "From Gold Farmers to Kings: Online Gaming in China," detailing the industry's growth in the Middle Kingdom.
Games like World of Warcraft and Lineage II are some of the most popular titles in China, but homegrown games are quickly making their way to the top. The industry has shot off with a bang. Projections indicate that the Chinese gaming market will hit $3.4 billion by 2010.
For China, however, a country with a closed-off government and media censorship, online games may bring political troubles for the Communist Party. The government is concerned about the "social organization" aspect of gaming, concerned that the online world may cross over into real world protests.
Beijing has also kept a close eye on possible health issues related to long gaming sessions. China became the first country to label "Internet Addiction Disorder" a clinical disease, and Internet rehab centers for young gamers have sprung up around the country. The government just pushed a regulation by which gamers who play for over 3 hours at internet cafes will earn half their normal experience points. Anything beyond 5 will result in no level advancement.
BlizzCon Tickets on Sale May 16th |
Posted by:Lilbubba on May 06th, 2009, 20:10:12
BlizzCon is an annual, two-day event held by Blizzard Entertainment. This year it will be held in Anaheim, California on August 21 and 22 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Tickets will go on sale worldwide May 16th and there will be an additional batch of tickets on sale May 30th.
What will BlizzCon feature this year?- A celebration of the WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises.
- Q&A panels featuring game developers.
- Social events for the players to meet Blizzard developers.
- Hands-on gameplay time.
How can I prepare to purchase tickets?In anticipation of huge sales for this year's BlizzCon, there will be a queue system used to purchase tickets. Once tickets go on sale, you will have the opportunity to fill out your ticket request and will be then entered into the queue to purchase tickets. If you do not enter the queue, that's no problem. You will be able to purchase tickets right away. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Once your number is up, you will have 15 minutes to complete the request form or your session will time out and you will have to start all over again. Please note that being in the queue does not guarantee you will be able to purchase tickets.
If you are unable to attend, don't worry. It is also going to be a televised event by DIRECTTV pay per view for $39.95 USD. GameReplays will also be highlighting plenty of information from the event, so stay tuned.
$150 Dawn of War 2 Tournament This Saturday |
Posted by:TDA on May 05th, 2009, 11:12:41
The population cap bug has been finalized and game balance has been fine-tuned! Given the success and high level of enrollment for our previous tournament, this one will now be open to twice as many players! That's right, the bracket for GameReplays.org second Dawn of War 2 tournament will now be open to 128 registrations so it promises to be a brawl for galactic supremacy of unrivaled proportions. Please read all tournament rules thoroughly in order to ensure you are properly and completely informed as to how things will work.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the tournament, please direct them to this thread or you can contact the tournament organizer directly via PM.
Prizes:
1st./ $100 and a Dawn of War 2 poster!
2nd./ $30 and a Dawn of War 2 poster!
3rd./ Has a choice of: $20 or a Dawn of War 2 poster!
4th./ Gets whatever 3rd didn't take  .
Date and Time:
The tournament will take place over two weekends starting on Saturday, May 9th at 5 P.M. GMT. The second round of matches will take place on Saturday, May 16th at 5 P.M. GMT. For information on the tournament format, see below. The tournament will consist of two distinct halves. The first will be a 128 player single-elimination tournament. Once the field has been narrowed to 16 competitors, the format will switch to double-elimination. These double elimination matches may be played on Saturday, May the 16th depending on how quickly we move through the brackets.
Note: Matches are being played a week apart, rather than on consecutive days, to ensure that players from all around the world will have a fair chance to participate. Time-zone discrepancies mean some players would not be able to stay up as late as the tournament would require on a Sunday night (assuming they work or have school on Monday morning), and this scheduling is an attempt to accommodate all of our potential players.
Registration:
Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and there are only 128 spots available, so if you are interested in the tournament, don't wait: sign up now!
Registrations are to be sent as an email to the following address:
dow2tournament@gmail.com
When emailing your registration, copy/paste the following template into your email, and complete it fully. Incomplete registrations will not be taken, and you may lose your spot in the tournament.
www.GameReplays.org forum name:
Games For Windows - LIVE ID:
Steam ID and current Steam Player Name:
Faction/Race you will play:
Your Time Zone:
Confirmation e-mails will be sent to participants once all registrations have been received. Thank you, and good luck!
Rules:
Tournament Format:
The tournament will consist of two distinct halves, separated across two days. The first day will be a 128 player, best-of-one, single-elimination tournament. Once the field has been narrowed to 16 competitors the day's matches will draw to a close, and be completed the following weekend. On the second day of the tournament, the format will switch to double-elimination for the remaining 16 players. Once only 4 players remain in the tournament (semi-finals) the matches will switch to best two-of-three format.
Faction Choices:
Your faction is locked once you register for the tournament. You will indicate your faction of choice to me when you register for the tournament. Once you have played your first match, you may not change your faction for the duration of the tournament. You may play any commander you wish and may change commander between games. You will be informed of your opponent's identity and faction choice just before your match is to be played.
Replays:
In order for your win to be counted officially, you must save your replay and post it in the GameReplays.org replay section. In order to more easily track uploaded replays, include the following line at the start of the title for every tournament replay you upload, followed by a clearly understood title:
GR May 1v1 Tournament
If you do not save the replays of your matches they will not be counted and you will be asked to play it again. This is very important! If you win, save the replay!
Drops/Disconnects:
If a player should - for whatever reason - drop or disconnect during a match, the result of the match may be arbitrated by tournament moderators pending review of the replay. It may be arbitrated as a loss for the dropping player or potentially a win if it is obvious they had an irrecoverable lead late into the game. It may also be asked that the match be replayed. If the opposing player volunteers in goodwill to replay the match, the match may be replayed. If your opponent drops: take a screenshot showing that they dropped from the match, then save the replay and get both to a tournament organizer immediately.
Sportsmanship:
You will respect your opponents, the tournament organizers and anyone else involved in the tournament at all times. Trash-talking and verbal abuse in game will not be tolerated and will result in a disqualification. If your opponent is being abusive during a match, again take a screenshot of the abusive language in chat. Do not stop playing the match. Play the entire match out and then bring the conduct of the offending player to the attention of a tournament moderator after the match. At the discretion of the tournament mod, the player may be disqualified if their behavior was inappropriate but please remember that this is for us to judge. Do not assume they will be disqualified: take a screen shot of the offense and then continue to play all matches fully.
Any player being similarly offensive in any of the chat lobbies will also be disqualified from the tournament.
Bans:
At the present point in time, tournament organizers are aware of no "ban-worthy" glitches or bugs that exist in this game. As such, there are currently no bans stipulated for this tournament: anything goes. If you are aware of something that should be considered for a ban, please contact me via PM and I will look into the issue further.
Rulings and Rule changes:
The rules of the tournament are subject to change up until the day of the tournament itself. If an unforeseen circumstances arise during the tournament and a new ruling must be made, it will be made by a tournament moderator at that point in time. If you have an issue with something that happens during the tournament, you may address it to tournament moderators.
Please note that the rulings of tournament moderators are final. Our decisions cannot be appealed and complaining persistently over a ruling may result in a disqualification and potential exclusion from future tournaments. Please understand we will do everything within our power to make our judgment calls as fair as possible but questioning our authority will not help your case or be tolerated and serves only to further delay the tournament.
Match Organization:
You are expected to be in chat and active at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time of your match. Any player more than 15 minutes late for a match will be handed an immediate loss which may result in your elimination. Tournaments take enough time to run as is and we will not sit around waiting for you. Additionally, do not play a match with your opponent until you have been instructed to do so by tournament organizers. Failure to comply means the outcome of your match may not be considered valid and you will be asked to replay it.
Two Steam groups will be run for this tournament and you are expected to join both if you want to participate. One channel will be a general chat lobby for players in the tournament. Here you will be able to chat with other players in order to find matches, as well as to occupy/amuse yourselves in idle down-time between matches.
There will be a second Steam Chat channel, which you are also required to be in, which will be for official tournament information only. If you have a direct question for the tournament mods, post it here. If we have important information on the tournament for you, this is where it will be posted. This is also where upcoming matches will be announced so keep an eye on it to know who you will be playing next. Do not clutter this channel with irrelevant chatter - repeated offenses will result in a disqualification.
Games Of The Future: Smells Good |
Posted by:Church on May 04th, 2009, 07:30:27
A group of engineers at Birmingham University are currently developing a program to add onto games that could introduce a new sense into gameplay. Smell. Adding this touch would not only liven the games, but put you in the position of your hero.
The concept is simple. The smell will be given off by pots of wax filled with different scents and aromas. The pot is then placed in a box fan which will waft different smells throughout the game, changing throughout play.
"Smell is the most underated sense, but next to vision it is the most information-rich one we have." Said Professor Bob Stone, the leader of the project. "The goal for this project is to implement it into military training and discover if "smell enhances a person's perception."
One of the biggest difficulties that this new technology will be faced with is the cost. The device will cost an additional $25 with the price of the game itself, which could make this new feature unaffordable due to the global economic crisis.
With this new technology only in the developing stage, it could take years to fully develop. But when it is released this unique creation could increase the interactive experience in gaming adding yet another element into gameplay.
Vespene Laughs April Winners Announced |
Posted by:Lilbubba on Apr 30th, 2009, 10:00:30
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. has recently announced the April winners of the "Vespene Laughs" comic contest. "Vespene Laughs" is a monthly comic contest that grants the winners a Starcraft 2 beta key.
This contest is not the only way to receive a beta key for Starcraft 2. Currently and in the future there will be several ways to get a beta key such as: BlizzCast contests/events, finding Raynor in screenshots, opting-in for the beta with your Battle Net account, Starcraft 2 trivia, and the Starcraft 2 fan site program.
Trion Partners With Petroglyph To Develop New RTS |
Posted by:Church on Apr 29th, 2009, 11:14:57
Trion World Network Inc. is partnering with Petroglyph to develop a massive multiplayer real-time strategy title.
Petroglyph has been responsible for major RTS titles Star Wars: Empire At War and Universe at War, since its formation in 2003 by Ex-Westwood Studios Staff, whose string of Dune and Command and Conquer titles shaped the RTS genre we enjoy today.
"Petroglyph is extremely excited to be working with a visionary publisher like Trion World Network" said co-founder of Petroglyph Michael Legg. "Combining Trion's platform and industry expertise with our GLYPH game technology and our development pedigree will allow us to unleash a groundbreaking MMORTS gaming experience to the world."
Trion World Network Inc. is the creator of server-based games for the broadband network that have revolutionised the gaming industry. Trion has studios based in Redwood City and San Diego.
"Trion is thrilled to partner with such decorated and extremely talented game vets as the Petroglyph team" co-founder of Trion Lars Butler said. "We are very excited about bringing the world's first truly high-end MMORTS to market and we can't wait to share with gamers the innovative and fun game design Petroglyph is creating on the Trion platform."
Petroglyph will be utilising all the technology that Trion possesses to create a newer breed of real time strategy; a unique addition that they hope will revolutionise the genre.
Visit Trion World Network's Website
Visit Petroglyph Games Website.
Empire: Total War New Patch Announced |
Posted by:Lilbubba on Apr 26th, 2009, 15:30:06
The Creative Assembly, developer of Empire: Total War, has announced an upcoming patch. ETW was released in early March 2009, and has received mixed reviews because of some key gameplay issues. This new patch is designed to fix over 70 bugs and will further balance and fine-tune the gameplay.
According to Creative Assembly staff member Kieran Brigden, we should expect to see the patch this week. The patch is currently in testing over the weekend, and will be highly anticipated by the ETW community this week.
What are some of the things the new patch will fix?- Game crashes in mid-battle as a result of audio
- Game crashes from building capture notifications
- AI aggression level
- Unit behavior
- Naval invasions possible, but still rare
- The stuttering loading bar issue
Brigden also dropped a few hints on what will be included in the next patch. He addressed concerns about naval invasions, and said that the development team has been working hard on performance related issues. So expect to see more naval invasions in the future and a more solid game.
Posted by:Darky on Apr 25th, 2009, 20:03:46
A quick reminder that Gamereplays.org now has a Twitter account. For those of you who know of Twitter and/or use it, the account is GameReplaysOrg. Go check it out to see the latest site updates and news. Become a follower of GR's Twitter, see other people from GRs Twitter and check their page out.
Some of you may still be asking yourself what is Twitter? Twitter is a perfect medium between instant messaging and e-mail/blogging. With Twitter you answer a simple question, What are you doing? All responses are less than 140 characters to give your friends and followers a quick and easy update on what is going on.
Everyone on Twitter has a personalized page, kind of like MySpace or Facebook. You update your own site with personal updates, and if you are a follower of anyone's account, their updates are also shown on your page.
Twitter is very easy to sign-up for and get started right away. All of Gamereplay's major games will be featured on Twitter, so it will be one of the quickest and easiest ways to get the latest news.
You might also want to use a 3rd party Twitter application which are much more comfortable to use than the homepage:
Left 4 Dead Survival Mode Leader Board Launched |
Posted by:cl0ak on Apr 25th, 2009, 07:50:23
Today we are happy to launch GameReplay's own Survival Mode Leader Board! Now you will be able to compare your best times against all the other members on GR for each map, with the team who has the longest time on The Last Stand will receive special signatures to show off.
The process is really easy: when your team gets a great time (at least a Gold), take a screenshot of the final score and check if it is better than the current highest team. If it is, post it in the Survival Mode Leader Board Submissions thread and we will update the leader board with your team and time. The screenshot must be of the final screen after everyone has been incapacitated/killed (that has the total time and number of different infected killed) because we want to award the best team as a whole. It won't count if we can only see the time in the "best score."
If your team has the best time on The Last Stand for two weeks straight, everyone on your team will receive the exclusive signature images to use.
Posted by:Lilbubba on Apr 24th, 2009, 15:15:17
Do you ever dream of getting to play all the biggest gaming titles, particpate in gaming tournaments and hang out with gamers that know their stuff? Then look no further!
Penny Arcade Expo, commonly known as PAX, will be held in Seattle, Washington on September 4th-6th, 2009.
What is PAX?
PAX is a three-day gaming extravaganza! Filled with events from the biggest names in the gaming industry. PAX 2009 is planned to feature tournaments, panel discussions, chances to play some of the biggest gaming titles, the infamous Omegathon, and even concerts. Some of the confirmed gaming giants that will be featured are: Bethesda, Blizzard, CapCom, EA, Microsoft, Nintendo, and many more.
Which bands will we see in the concerts?
So far this year, 6 bands are scheduled to make an appearance, some of which are familiar faces with the PAX scene. The 6 bands are: Anamanaguchi, Freezepop, JoCo and MC Frontalot, Metroid Metal, and Paul & Storm.
Let's not forget about the PAX 10
The PAX 10 is an expo of the 10 best independent games that were submitted. Think you have a game that is ready for the attention? Then you can find out how to submit your work here on the offical PAX 10 site. Don't delay, the cutoff for submissions is May 9th, 2009.
Well that's great, but how do I get there?
Well, that's easy. Simply fill out the registration form here. By pre-registering you get a small discount on the cost of admission, a 3-day pass will cost you $50 instead of $55 at the door. There are also 1-day passes available for each day of the event. Thinking of taking all your friends with you? Well don't worry, they do have a group discount. Of course, the PAX site will set you up with all the info you need for airfare and other travel arrangements.
For more info, head over to the offical PAX site.
WCG Announces New Titles For 2009 |
Posted by:Church on Apr 17th, 2009, 07:18:51
World Cyber Games announced on Monday several new game titles which will be released throughout 2009. Many eager gamers were disappointed, however, as many of today's most popular real time strategy hits were not included on the list.
The new games will include many old favorites such as FIFA 09, Track Mania Nations Forever, and Carom3D. These titles will be joining previous selections, including Counter Strike 1.6, StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Virtual Fighter.
According to WCG CEO Hyoung-Seok Kim, the new titles have been added to make sure that they appeal to a wide variety of gamers.
"The World Cyber Games is more committed than ever to make Esports accessible to every type of gamer around the world," Kim said. "This year's line-up not only features wide variety of Official Game Title of Xbox 360 and PC games, but we are expanding the number of mobile games. With these new titles, we expect the 2009 Grand Final to be the most diverse and exciting one we have ever had.''
Outside of StarCraft: Brood War and World Of WarCraft III: Frozen Throne, there are no major RTS titles in the list, causing a downturn in Esports and a loss of interest in the WCG League.
"WCG has lost a lot of face by ignoring the competitive grounds that it was founded upon, just so that it may appeal to the wider market, and essentially, make more cash," GameReplays member -Hunter said.
Still, others insist that WCG is still a popular venue for the RTS genre. EA's Red Alert 3 community manager Aaron Kaufman points out that the competitive community in the strategy scene is still very much alive for the annual event.
"World Cyber Games is a great competition and CS/WC3/SC are certainly the most notable Esports titles of the competition," Kaufman said in a post on GameReplays. "It has been since it started, so as long as they are in, it's still one of the best tourneys to be a part of."
Visit the World Cyber Gaming announcement of their chosen titles.
L4D Strategy Specialists Needed! |
Posted by:cl0ak on Apr 06th, 2009, 21:37:20
The Left 4 Dead section here at Gamereplays.org is currently looking for a few members to step up as Strategy Specialists! Come join our staff team and help out your section and community by contributing your skills to it.
What do Strategy Specialist's do?
Strategy Specialist's help the community by using their knowledge of the game to write informed strategy guides and articles. They are active members of the community that can answer questions members may ask about Left 4 Dead and provide tips to help players improve.
What Does it Take to be a Strategy Specialist?
The main requirement for Strategy Specialist's is knowledge of Left 4 Dead and a willingness to help other players improve. Staying in-tune with recent strategies, creating your own strategies and creating helpful pointers.
You will only need to sacrifice a small amount of your free time, one piece of content a week is all that is required. Left 4 Dead is such an in-depth game that these articles can incorporate any of the ever-changing strategies. Good english is also very helpful for the community reading your work.
What's in it for you?
Not only do you get the respect of fellow members of the Left 4 Dead community as a great player your opinions will also be respected as being informative and helpful. You get access to the private Staff forums which will help you learn more about the section and the site as a whole. You will also gain a few more places to have fun posting in. This is your chance to get a behind the scenes look at gamereplays.org
You also get moderation powers in the Strategy forum section and have a say in how the Left 4 Dead section is run. This is a great opportunity for all members and hard work is rewarded as you can move up the ranks on GR Staff.
There is no better way to learn than to teach, which makes being a Left 4 Dead Strategy Specialist an excellent learning tool as well. Since you are always keeping up with current game trends and need to understand all strategies for your articles and discussions, you become an expert of the game.
You get this badge under your name which the community recognizes and respects.
If you are interested in becoming a Strategy Specialist please PM cl0ak your application.
Team Fortress 2 Portal Discontinued |
Posted by:Herz on Apr 06th, 2009, 21:09:00
After weeks of various internal staff issues, the Team Fortress 2 portal on GameReplays has been closed down. Many people put a great deal of work into this section trying to make it successful, but in the end we haven't had the numbers to keep it effectively running. For those who made these efforts, we thank you for your contributions to the site.
GameReplays opened this section months after Team Fortress 2 was released, which didn't help us at all in terms of trying to compete with other major TF2 sites. Ever since the opening we've struggled to bring in views and stimulate forum discussion. While TF2 is a great competitive game, when you don't have the people to run a portal nor the activity, it's hard to keep a section running.
Please stay tuned to FPS on GameReplays! We have many exciting portals planned for the summer and fall. When one section must close, another one will be born.
Posted by:Church on Apr 03rd, 2009, 07:31:46
After the recent announcement from Ziff Davis Media that FileFront, a website that has given gamers access to the latest patches and demos, has once again reopened and the decision to close down FileFront last month will no longer play out.
FileFront which was previously known as FileLeech and Vodoos Extreme Downloads , has been running since 1997, giving gamers access to the latest patches and exclusive access to new demos.
The previous owners of FileFront before Ziff Davis Media bought back FileFront of Ziff Davis Media today making it a completely independent company again. This means that all previously suspended services are now back up and running.
'We look forward to improving FileFront and serving the gaming community for years to come.'-FileFront Owners
Visit TheFileFront Website.
View The FileFront Reopening Topic
Crytek: Streamed Videogames Not Viable until 2013 |
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Crysis developer Crytek unfurled the results of their research into a streamed gaming service such as the recently announced OnLive. Crytek claims that, according to their research, a game-streaming service would not be viable until at least 2013.
CEO Cevat Yerli stated that, "We had our research in 2005 on this subject but we stopped around 2007 because we had doubts about economics of scale. But that was at a time when bandwidth was more expensive.
"It doesn't take a lot to make a video-based renderer, but what you need is the right infrastructure that is beyond the technology we have, it's more like cable net providers and communication networks. They have to provide fast bandwidths and connectivity in order to allow such technology to excel. So as it was dependent on somebody else, we decided to wait."
Crysis has always been known for it's abnormally large hardware requirements and a streamed service would have made it available for a much wider audience. Crytek's dismissal of such a service stands out from other skeptics who don't have the first-hand experience and research knowledge that Crytek does.
What does that mean for services like OnLive? With such a relatively number of people with capable high-bandwidth connections, such a service might not be entirely viable for the time being.
These large roadblocks don't seem to stop services from popping up, however. Another service, Netherlands based Gaikai, has surfaced and offers many of the same features as OnLive: seamless streaming, worry-free patching, and a wide variety of games to choose from. They are still in their BETA phase and haven't announced when they expect to become available to the public.
Guitar Hero: World Tour Announced for PC and Mac |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 31st, 2009, 01:33:55
Activision has announced that Guitar Hero:World Tour will be coming soon to PC and Mac. Sometimes PC players end up scraping the bottom of the barrel with new titles but with this new release, you can now rock out on your computer.
The game will arrive sometime in June, for North America. The release will only include a wireless guitar. The other instruments will need to be purchased separately but if you have them for PlayStation 3 they will work for the Mac and PC version.
The entire song list from console version will be available, as well as online play. The make-your-own-song feature is also included but you cannot share your created songs online. Activision has not yet announced whether you will be able to download tracks online for the game. While some of the system requirements are high such as a GeForce 7600 video card, it isn't as bad as some of the recent PC titles.
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 30th, 2009, 20:22:03
Do you want to play the latest game on high-end graphics without upgrading your PC, at all? OnLive is launchings a new fabulous performance Games On Demand service, allowing everyone to play the latest games immediately over broadband Internet to either the TV or entry-level PCs and Macs. Next to this, there's no download or install waiting time, the game(s) can be played immediately with the best graphics possible on a cheap low-end PC. "OnLive is the most powerful game system in the world. No high-end hardware, no upgrades, no endless downloads, no discs, no recalls, no obsolescence," said Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO of OnLive. "With OnLive, your video game experience is always state-of-the-art."
OnLive has spent the last seven years in stealth, secretely developing themselves into something special. During that time, they have talked to many publishers and now OnLive is supported by many of the top names in the video games industry including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive Software, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, THQ Inc., Epic Games, Eidos, Atari Interactive and Codemasters.
There are a lot of benefits coming along with this new feature. For instance, it's cheaper and easier to develop games on OnLive, it's for more efficient than retail or download distribution models, and it only takes just a few weeks to extend an existing version of a game to work on the OnLive service.
Of course the benefits for consumers are really high too. "OnLive combines the successful components of video games, online distribution and social networking into one affordable, flexible platform that offers a new way for game fans to access and enjoy content," said Mike McGarvey, COO of OnLive. "By substantially lowering the barriers between content and consumers, OnLive has created an environment that is highly beneficial for every facet of the video game ecosystem. With OnLive, gamers can play what they want, when they want, how they want. That level of freedom has never been possible until now."
Battlefield 1943: Game Informer Preview |
Posted by:Herz on Mar 29th, 2009, 02:12:31
In the April issue of Game Informer a small section was dedicated to a preview of Battlefield 1943. As stated in the article, all of the Battlefield PC gamers are waiting patiently for the next major PC title. With Battlefield 1943 it's hoped that this will quench our thirst for more vehicular mayhem within the franchise for at least the short term.
Game Informer goes into detail with the current known features of the game and about what we should expect. Apparently the class system will be changed from the usual lineup seen in the series. There will only be three classes: infantry, rifleman, and scout. The infantry class will carry a sub-machine gun, bazooka, and wrench acting like a combined engineer/AT class. Riflemen will take the more traditional role of combat and use semi-automatic rifles with grenades. Finally, the scout will use only a sniper rifle and TNT to annihilate the opposition.
Along with the class changes we're going to only see three maps return from Battlefield 1942, all of which take place in the Pacific theater. Wake Island, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima will be making appearances in this game and while map packs aren't announced, we may see more if the demand is high enough. Even more surprising is that servers will only be 24 players instead of the regular 64 that we're use to. The main reason given for this is how demanding the Frostbite engine is, which apparently has considerable lag with more than this number.
One final note is to realize that Frostbite is being used as the game engine to give us a hint on how it handles on the PC platform. While many are predicting DICE is testing out and improving on Frostbite before a third major PC installment, it's been quite some time since we've heard any real updates on this issue. Battlefield 1943 may just be filler content until Bad Company 2 which will also make an appearance on the PC this time around. Until any more indication, we're forced to only wonder what DICE has up its sleeve for its dedicated PC fans.
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 27th, 2009, 01:11:40
On March 30th 2009 FileFront.com will be closing their shop. Reasons given are that due to the current economical situation they are forced to suspend the site. The economy seems to affect businesses and companies, online and in the real world alike.
This is a big loss for the gaming community. FileFront gave gamers an easy way to share files such as replays, demos, mods and more next to giving developers an easy way to host their patches. Free file sharing is not an easy thing to come by these days.
FileFront also had a large community active in their forums that will now have to disperse and find a new site to chat on, as well as host their stuff. Even though the owners say the site will be suspended, it is unlikely that they will ever return. The owners ask everyone to download any replays, photos, demos or any other files that they want or need as soon as possible because once the site goes down they will no longer be available.
Blizzard in Talks with Microsoft Regarding Next Xbox |
Blizzard Entertainment's Executive Vice President of Game Design, Rob Pardo, confirmed a rumor at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco that Blizzard has been in communication with Microsoft regarding the direction of the next incarnation of the Xbox gaming console.
Speaking at the Luminaries Lunch at GDC, Pardo elaborated on this collaboration of sorts.
"There are are so many games like we make at Blizzard that we don't take to consoles because they don't support the input device and you end up with crappy ports. That's why RTS games never do well on consoles ... If I was them, I'd be sitting around trying to figure out what's a cool input device that supports all types of new kinds of games."
Taken at face value, this news merely indicates that Microsoft is in the process of planning its next console and wishes to bounce ideas off of a successful game developer in order to make more informed decisions. It is not yet known whether or not this indicates that Blizzard, a company who has not launched a console game since Starcraft 64, is working on a project for this still unannounced platform.
Only time will tell what will come out of this relationship, if anything. If Blizzard's track record with release schedules is of any indication, then expect to hear more about this relationship later rather than sooner.
Ubisoft Announced R.U.S.E. |
Posted by:TDA on Mar 26th, 2009, 12:38:05
By releasing a brand new trailer, Ubisoft announced today the new one-of-a-kind game R.U.S.E. developed by Eugen System known of Act of War: Direct Action.
[imgf=right]http://www.gamereplays.org/community/uploads/post-16935-1238071043.jpg[/imgf]The game is a complete war of perception, the players have to use their brain to detect the secrets of their opponents and have to try to mislead and deceive them at the same time, a reinvigorating feature to the real-time strategy genre bringing it on another level. The action itself can be controlled by views directly from the battlefield to the full theatre of war by using the exclusive IRISZOOMTM Engine which allows the players to have a smooth and fast transition between them.
"With R.U.S.E., Ubisoft is once again shaking up a genre, offering an RTS with a twist that will thrill gamers," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. "Ubisoft is known for innovation and R.U.S.E. continues that tradition, offering the most immense and detailed maps ever seen in an RTS. Players can explore the maps using IRISZOOM Engine, which provides an aerial, smooth interaction unlike anything ever seen before."
Intel is working closely with Ubisoft to ensure that the game will use all Intel technologies to their full advantage. This way, gamers will experience a more "more immersive game play with smooth zooming from satellite to ground view, superior AI delivering more complex unit movements and more realistic physics throughout the game."
R.U.S.E. will be demonstrated for the first time during the Game Developers Conference at Moscone North Hall in the Intel booth (booth #6006) at 5:00 PM Pacific on March 25 in San Francisco.
The game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the PC and is expected to be released on the fiscal year 2009/1010.
More information can be found on R.U.S.E.'s official site.
[gametrailers]47119[/gametrailers]
Games for Windows Live's Anti-Piracy Solution & Marketplace |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 25th, 2009, 10:40:55
Microsoft has plans to release new features for the Games for Windows Live service soon, which should include an in-game marketplace and a new anti-piracy solution. This information has been revealed in an announcement made by the mega-software firm, today.
The marketplace gives developers the option to sell their content in-game through their own store fronts. The purchases made, will be saved by Games for Windows Live, so it's possible to access the content from every PC you use.
The only thing Microsoft revealed on the anti-piracy solution was that Games for Windows Live users are asked for authentication for online play.
"This update and other features currently in development represent a tipping point in the evolution of Games for Windows Live as a leading online PC gaming network," said general manager of Games for Windows Live Ron Pessner. "In the coming months, we will continue to deliver on our promise to provide gamers and publishers with the industry's best connected gaming experiences through the Live service."
Microsoft said that they will reveal more information about it later on.
Steamworks Makes DRM Obsolete |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 25th, 2009, 06:44:17
According to an announcement made by Valve today, Steamworks will feature a new toolkit, free of charge, to all developers and publishers. In this toolkit you can find a new technology called "Custom Executable Generation" (CEG) which will be a huge improvement to the already existing anti-piracy solution offered in Steamworks.
CEG should be a "customer friendly approach to anti-piracy, CEG makes unique copies of games for each user allowing them to access the application on multiple machines without install limits and without having to install root kits on their PC." Next to this, it includes support for in-game downloadable content (DLC) and a matchmaking system. The DLC support should help developers to spread their new content, either free or for a fee, and the matchmaking features the lobby system that was already shipped and tested for Left 4 Dead.
"Delivering this extension of services on Steamworks first anniversary, demonstrates our commitment to continually develop the platform to better serve the community working with these tools," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "As we roll out these features, we continue to look for new ways make PC games easier to create and better for customers to experience."
Steamworks is completely integrated within Steam which has distributed PC games to 20 million accounts, growing from 15 million accounts last year, and it offers over 500 applications to gamers all over the world.
GameReplays is on Twitter! |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 22nd, 2009, 05:28:54
Gamereplays.org now has a Twitter account. For those of you who know of Twitter and/or use it, the account is GameReplaysOrg. Go check it out to see the latest site updates and news. Become a follower of GR's Twitter, see other people from GRs Twitter and check their page out.
Some of you may still be asking yourself what is Twitter? Twitter is a perfect medium between instant messaging and e-mail/blogging. With Twitter you answer a simple question, What are you doing? All responses are less than 140 characters to give your friends and followers a quick and easy update on what is going on.
Everyone on Twitter has a personalized page, kind of like MySpace or Facebook. You update your own site with personal updates, and if you are a follower of anyone's account, their updates are also shown on your page.
Twitter is very easy to sign-up for and get started right away. All of Gamereplay's major games will be featured on Twitter, so it will be one of the quickest and easiest ways to get the latest news.
THQ: Big Huge Games Faces Closing Threat |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 18th, 2009, 18:14:06
In a response to Crispy Gamer's article about job lay-offs at Big Huge Games, THQ's Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Julie MacMedan, told them that THQ will sell the studio if there's no sale completed in the "near future."
Big Huge Games is known for their Rise of Nations series and were purchased by THQ in January last year. The last projects of the studio involved the collaboration with Ensemble Studios on Age of Empires 3: Asian Dynasties. The latter studio has been closed already by Microsoft after the completion of the Halo Wars game. THQ's statement:
"THQ informed the staff at its Big Huge Games studio in Timonium, MD, that it plans to close the studio if a sale is not completed in the near future. These actions were unfortunate but were necessitated by the difficult economic environment."
Next to this, the company stated that they've released Heavy Iron Studios and Incinerator Studios, making them independent studios.
Posted by:Herz on Mar 18th, 2009, 13:56:02
Have you ever looked at an FPS portal and thought why don't they try this? Have you seen a new FPS game announcement and figured it would be a great addition to GR? Starting today you'll be able to have your thoughts heard by me, the Director of FPS, on a regular basis through Twitter. This is an attempt to make the FPS portals more personal and help cater even more to our communities on these portals. The community here is our backbone and we want nothing more than to enhance your experience on GR.
I plan on using my Twitter page to update everyone on GR about current FPS support and future ideas. If you follow me on Twitter you'll be up to date on this information and can even add feedback to what's going on or what is currently in plannin! At any point in time I'll be providing future plans for FPS on GR or may even be asking those who view my page for feedback on a certain subject such as what content most interests you.
In case you don't know what Twitter is, it's a website that allows you to update what you're doing at any time through any means including your cell phone or computer. Just like other socially-oriented sites Twitter is free and extremely easy to use. Many companies and celebrities have Twitter pages including G4, BBC, Valve Software, Barack Obama, and more! Not only can you keep in touch with GameReplays, but you can also use it to stay connected to various other sources as well.
It doesn't hurt to register on Twitter! I hope to see anyone interested in improving FPS on GR following not only myself, but other staff members as well. Many of us on GameReplays have Twitter pages as well, you just have to look for them.
Herz's Twitter Page
GameReplays.org Twitter Page
Blizzard Creative Writing Contest |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 17th, 2009, 01:03:49
Want to win a free trip to Blizzard Headquarters? Here's your chance! Blizzard is holding a writing contest for people of all ages. The First Place prize is a free trip for the winner to Blizzard Entertainment Headquarters in Southern California. The contest is open to people all around the world, however submissions must be in English.
The writing must be 3,000-10,000 words and the piece must revolve around either the StarCraft,WarCraft or Diablo universe. All entries must be submitted by April 12th. That is very reasonable and with a little research you realize just how much there is to write about with these three topics.
If you are under 18, your need a legal guardian needs to write a letter of consent and acknowledge they have read over the rules. Plagiarism comes with an automatic disqualification. If you are from any of the following states or Provinces you cannot participate:- North Dakota
- Vermont
- Conneitcut
- Maryland
- Quebec
- Victoria
- Austrialian Capital Territory
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 14th, 2009, 15:01:25
Call of Duty:World at War will release it's first downloadable content next week - a map pack including 4 brand new maps. This isn't a patch (it won't affect balance or fix any bugs) but it will give players more content to maximize their World at War experience. This should keep gamers happy until the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
The first new map is called Station and is quite literally a bombed out underground station with rubble and flames littering the ground. There are quite a few second-story overlooks and loading platforms to give players some vantage points and the map even includes a few hidden passages. This will probably be a good close quarter combat map with several nice sniper points.
Fire-Bombed Berlin is just that - an urban city that has been destroyed by war. Run through the streets and take cover behind broken buildings and city ruins. This is a fairly large map with lots of places to hide, with just enough space to keep the trigger-happy madmen happy.
Knee-deep is an island village in Japan that was turned into a command center when the war started. You will fight in the Japanese jungles and through the bunkers to hold this vital communication post for the war. A dichotomy of a map, with large open jungle spaces for shoot-outs and several bunker emplacements for those who prefer to see the whites of their eyes.
Verrückt is a zombie asylum located right outside of Berlin. This map is based on the Nazi Zombie bonus survival mode. Teams are split into two and you must find each other to survive. With weapons and perks scattered around the map, you will need to find them and your teammates to fight off the onslaught of the zombie hordes.
EA loses Lord of the Rings License |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 14th, 2009, 14:59:55
Gaming giant Electronic Arts has lost the license for The Lord of the Rings through their current licensing deal's expiration. EA has held the license for J.R.R Tolkien's famous books for quite some time - it first obtained the license back in 2001. EA had managed to procure an extension to the license for a few months so as to release Lord of the Rings: Conquest.
It seems Conquest was the last released Lord of the Rings title under EA. Many people anticipated a Battle for Middle Earth 3 due to the great success of the first two installments, although this was never confirmed or even discussed by EA developers. The dying hype for Lord of the Rings, with the release of the movies fading into time, had led many people to lose hope in this idea, and with this new revelation it seems unlikely it will ever come to pass.
The license now falls back into the hands of New Line Cinema, the Warner Bros. owned company that released the films. It is doubtful we will see a new Rings-based game for a while, although Warner Bros. does have its own video game unit: Warn Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Neither company has yet commented on the passing of the license.
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 12th, 2009, 18:15:32
Crytek announced their new iteration of the CryENGINE, namely CryENGINE 3. The new game development solution for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, MMO, DX9 and DX10 is expected to launch at the GDC Expo this year which will be held from March 25th to March 27th.
CryENGINE is well-known for their advanced graphical, physical and animation technologies. It managed to get the game Crysis to a new graphical height, never established before on a PC. No question that the expectations for the engine are very high.
"CryENGINE 3 is a revolutionary change from our previous PC-only engines – and we're applying a similar revolution to the service we provide to developers using the software to create extraordinary games. CryENGINE 3 will set the benchmark for complete game engine solutions in performance, and services to game engine licensees and their players. We've been preparing a long time for CryENGINE on consoles and we're confident that Crytek will again amaze developers at GDC." said Carl Jones, Director of Business Development CryENGINE.
The engine will provide the ability to create AAA quality, next-generation games and will feature the new version of the Sandbox™ level editor, a production-proven, 3rd generation "What you see is what you play," (WYSIWYP) tool designed by and for professional developers. Cevat Yerli, CEO & President of Crytek said, "Our complete game engine solution enables realtime development, ensures teams are able to maximize their own creativity, saves budget and creates greater gaming experiences. Also with our solution developers can start working on their next generation games today."
Amazon's New Program No Threat According to Analysts |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 12th, 2009, 15:37:21
In recent a press release, Amazon.com announced that the company will enter the used gaming space. Due to the scope of this undertaking, the program is still in a beta phase to see what effect this program will have. At the moment, customers can trade games in good condition, which means undamaged with the inclusion of original packaging, and in return, they receive an online gift card. Customers only allowed to trade items worth more than $10, this comes with free shipping if you include a printable shipping label. Once the product arrives at Amazon.com, the price that was agreed upon will be added to sellers account. This beta comes with an added incentive, if you trade before March 19, you’ll receive a coupon for a 10% discount on a single game or game accessory.
GameStop, who is also a major player in the ‘used games’ industry, saw a slight drop in their stock prices after the announcement. Luckily for GameStop, analysts predict that Amazon.com will not be a major threat to the company: “While AMZN's arrival certainly increases the potential competitive risks for this very important segment, we see several disadvantages of the online-only model and believe it's way too early for it to have a meaningful impact to GME.”, said UBS analyst Ben Schachter. The reason for this statement is the ability of GameStop to trade games at local stores which might be their key advantage. Moreover, the company has had a taste of the online trade system not so long ago, it got canceled because of issues with product quality and shipping expenses.
The bottom line according to Schachter is that Amazon could potentially be formidable competitor, but there is no near-term risk. ‘Online used’ doesn't hold a large enough market share to be a major threat.
Activision CFO Discusses CoD:MW2 Release Date |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 11th, 2009, 19:50:45
The Activision CFO Thomas Tippl, who spoke at the Wedbush Morgan Securities annual meeting, explained that due to Activision's new strategy 'leap-frogging' development between two developers "has been paying out with back-to-back blockbusters". That's why the anticipated Infinity Ward's sequel Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is expected to be released in the holiday season of 2009.
"Last year we had probably beaten most expert expectations by growing the Call of Duty franchise over the tremendous success that was the first iteration of Modern Warfare," he said. "For 2009, Modern Warfare is coming back, we expect it will be the most anticipated game of the year. Perhaps the number one game of the year despite the fact that it's only going to launch in the holiday season."
The CFO is sure that the game will raise the bar for the shooter genre. "The game is looking incredible and Infinity Ward, the studio that is developing it, is just doing an unbelievable job."
EA Cutting Prices on '08 Titles |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 09th, 2009, 22:27:03
After EA's risks in 2008 that never paid off,such as Mirror's Edge and Dead Space , it seems as though they are moving forward into 2009 full speed ahead, fast enough to keep 2008 in the past. This week, EA has marked down the price on multiple 2008 titles. Once a game is out for awhile the price goes down, but not this time, this is just EA cutting prices to try and increase sales.
Now is a great time to stop by stores and pick up some of the games you couldn't afford last year. While most of them only went down $10, every buck counts in the economy right now. The hottest RTS game at the moment, Red Alert 3, is down to $30! Some other titles that went down are:- Dead Space from$60 to $50
- Army of Two from $30 to $20
- Mirror's Edge from $50 to $40
Also, the arguably top 3 EA Sports titles went down in price.- Madden 09 from $60 to $50
- NBA Live 09 from $50 to $40
- Fifa 09 from $60 to $50
Take this time to enjoy these nice sales and pick up a game or two for cheap.
Best Buy Trying to Sell Used Games |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Mar 09th, 2009, 22:19:18
After the recent news of Toys R Us jumping into the used game business, BestBuy may also be soon to jump into the pool. BestBuy has stepped toe into this area before but quickly stopped, and hasn't tried again in a few years.
Now that GameStop is no longer the only big name game store with trade-ins and used game sales, this can only mean one thing: price competition. This is great news for consumers as they may see trade-in value go up or used game prices go down. Game Producers, though, won't be happy to hear this, as they don't make any money off of used game sales, this market strictly helps retail stores and consumers.
This is a bold move on the part of BestBuy though, as it will inevitably make producers push harder for digital distribution of upcoming titles to avoid the middle man. Only time will tell.
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 06th, 2009, 17:12:31
Capcom, one of the oldest producers in video game history, believes that the online distribution of games is the future. One of the people supporting this belief is Christian Svensson, the Vice President of Strategic Planning at Capcom who, in a recent interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, addressed this outlook. Svensson: "To that end, on the PC side, I've spent the past year building up a digital distribution channel that has about twenty different partners. We're ready on the console side, and we were the first Japanese publisher to do anything on Steam." This model's success has already been proven since the company has had the highest revenue-generating Xbox Live title, the highest revenue-generating Nintendo Wii title, and that they're in the top four of the Playstation Network .
The company recently joined the PCGA whose mission is to improve the PC gaming ecosystem. According to Svensson, one of the problems that occur in the ecosystem is the falling away of retail selling, mainly due to the high number of customer returns. "Returns of a PC title are usually double than that of a console title - why? Because it's not a great consumer experience because there's variation in minimum spec, and it requires a lot of consumer knowledge to figure out exactly what is in their box, and what that will run." When a developer can improve that, improve the DRM issues and create an anti-piracy policy which is friendly to the customers, then the barriers to sales will be taken away, thus improving the ecosystem.
Piracy, however, is one of the biggest hurdles facing online distribution. The PCGA really tries to address piracy by having some of the best minds in the gaming industry work on realistic solutions. Though, addressing the piracy issue isn't necessarily a negative endeavor; Svensson: "We would like to improve the situation, because it would improve our bottom line. But we do really need to examine the situation carefully, and perhaps even look at whether some elements of piracy can be harnessed for good ... there are aspects of piracy that, if they can be turned around, can become positive."
World in Conflict Console Version Cancelled |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 05th, 2009, 17:37:52
Back in 2007, World in Conflict was announced to be both an Xbox 360 game as well as a PC game from publisher Sierra Entertainment. Later, those plans for World in Conflict were canceled and the project was changed to where its sequel, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, was announced as a three platform game for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. However, this was again changed when the two branches of developer Swordfish Studios, who did the console part of World in Conflict, were split and seperately sold to Monumental Games and Codemasters.
The franchise got saved though, by Ubisoft last November with their purchase of Massive Entertainment. However, Ubisoft isn't as interested in a console version of World in Conflict as Sierra had been. When they responded to IGNs request for an update, they replied that: "World of Conflict: Soviet Assault will be released for the PC later this month. A console version of World in Conflict is not planned for release at this time." This appears to be good news for PC gamers and fans of the series, but bad news for fans anticipating a possible console release as it seems that may never happen.
Analyst: THQ 50% Chance of Bankruptcy |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 04th, 2009, 16:50:46
Since a few years ago, THQ, Inc. was a well-known and powerful force in the video game industry. This is in no small part due to its popular wrestling titles. As of late, however, the company has suffered a loss of around $334 million and burned up half their available cash. Their stock prices have fallen from $20 to a mere $2. Add to that the expectancy of less customers due to the current global economic crisis and there's a good possibility that THQ, Inc. could be the next game developer take-over target.
According to analyst Michael Hickey of Janco Partners, the company has a real high chance of going bankrupt, actually, he puts the chance of bankruptcy at about 50%. "You have mediocre product and you're running out of cash," he said. "Not the situation they want to be in right now."
Nevertheless, chief executive Brian Farrel has launched a daring turn-over plan, cutting down the costs by $220 million next year and shedding around 600 employees and he is confident that there is light at the end of the tunnel, even though there are a large number of skeptics. "When the stock price is depressed, the naysayers can have their day in the sunshine. But we have a plan that we're very confident will give us cash and return the company to profitability."
Compared to the another large video game company, Activision Blizzard, THQ is going through some very bad times. The former had a lot of success as of late by producing a whole lot of best-selling games like WoW: Wrath of the Lich King and the Call of Duty franchise.
The key question is, which side of the 50/50 will THQ find themselves in the next few months. Only the future can tell, but we at GameReplays will be keeping a close eye on this situation for you.
Vivendi Financially Very Strong |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 03rd, 2009, 18:58:48
Vivendi revealed their 2008 financial report in their recent press-release and even though the economic crisis occurred that year, the company has exceeded their expectations due, in no small part, to the contribution of Activision Blizzard. That division is currently the leading third-party publisher of "pure-online" and console games. No wonder, Activision Blizzard has four of their games in the best-selling game list for the year, including the massive sales of four million World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King copies in the first month of its release. Next to that, they also published two out of the five, best-selling franchises on all platforms, namely Guitar Hero and Call of Duty. Thanks to these titles, the company gained a record profit year of $1.2 billion net income. That amount exceeded Vivendi's expectations for 2008 and for 2009.
Overall, Vivendi made a revenue increase of 17.2% in 2008 and an increase in net income of 8.4%. "Despite the current market conditions, I approach 2009 with confidence and vigilance," said Jean-Bernard Lévy, the CEO of the company, "Vivendi has the ability to resist, due to its subscription based model and the quality of its contents and services, added to continuous cost control. The profitable growth is expected to continue. Vivendi expects its EBITA will show strong growth in 2009."
Dawn of War 2 Beats Wrath of the Lich King |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Mar 03rd, 2009, 08:11:33
NPD, the organization that investigates the PC games sales in the United States, has shown that the fresh released Dawn of War 2 has surpassed the mega-hit game World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. The latter has been number one since its release back in November and it's been a great surprise that it has been beaten so soon.
Next to this, the top 10 rewelcomes Crysis Warhead which suddenly reappeared on the list. For the rest everything has been pretty stagnant with the Sims 2 and the World of Warcraft franchises battling for supremacy.- Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2
- World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
- The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
- The Sims 2 Deluxe
- Spore
- World Of Warcraft Battle Chest
- World Of Warcraft
- F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
- The Sims 2 Apartment Life Exp. Pack
- Crysis Warhead
Dawn of War 2 is now the best sold (Real-Time-Strategy) game in the United States, definately a good sign for Relic, who succeeds once again in delivering a best-selling game on the market.
Windows 7 Great for Gaming |
Posted by:Aeonstorm on Feb 27th, 2009, 20:59:26
Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, will be a major improvement over their current operating system, Vista, in terms of gaming performance and accessibility. Or at least, that's what GamesIndustry.biz was told by Microsoft's VP of Interactive Entertainment, Chris Lewis.
"Windows 7 will be great for games, undoubtedly," he said. "It's all good news - it's even more robust, it's quicker relatively, and the early testing cycles are proving very promising overall."
With Microsoft's recent track record with PC gaming, namely the disappointment in Vista, it is understandable that people may be doubtful as to the accuracy of this statement. However, users who have signed up for the Windows 7 beta have reported a much faster and more responsive interface, as well as the absence of the many problems that Vista had, such as excessive warnings and pop-ups. Interestingly, most have reported a very smooth gaming experience with optimal performance, although there are still some expected problems with video card drivers at the moment.
Games for Windows is entirely another matter, though, due to its rocky beginnings. Although Windows has progressed past the tiered subscription system and has redesigned the interface to make it simpler and more accessible, there are still only a few games that are supported. In the two years since release, only 14 Games for Windows Live enabled games have been released, even though around four times that number have been branded with the GFWL logo. It still seems as if the Games for Windows Live service is still in the beta stage, and no matter how great Windows 7 may be for gaming, Microsoft's push to link its brand image to PC gaming in general could prove to be futile unless it improves the GFWL service, drastically.
GameReplays Is Looking For Possible Quake Live Staff |
Posted by:Herz on Feb 26th, 2009, 11:00:07
With the recent launch of the Quake Live beta, GameReplays is very much interested in starting up a portal for this title. It promises to be one of the most popular FPS games of 2009, especially with its new approach to gaming.
If you would be interested a junior or senior staff position, please message Herz for details! It's very important if you're interested you respond to this message as soon as possible.
World at War Portal Discontinued |
Posted by:Herz on Feb 25th, 2009, 16:38:55
Due to a combination of limited community involvement, a lack of sufficient staff, and poor developer support has resulted in a decision by GameReplays to shut down the World at War portal.
This is in combination with the game itself being less popular than expected, especially when compared to previous titles in the Call of Duty series. Overall most of the major competitions have not accepted this release into their line up of games, resulting in less community involvement here and elsewhere.
For those of you who enjoyed our WaW portal, we encourage you to continue using our site for other FPS games such as Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, and Call of Duty 4. Please stay tuned as well for our future support of Modern Warfare 2 and other titles!
Square Enix to Offer Library on Steam |
Just when you think Steam has reached critical mass, they go and add another publisher to their arsenal. The latest deal involves introducing Japanese RPG juggernaut Square Enix into the mix. Begining April ninth, consumers can get their hands on The Last Remnant, the first Square Enix title to be delivered by Steam.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Square Enix, Inc had this to say regarding the company's Steam emergence:
[center]"We are excited to offer the millions of Steam customers online access to Square Enix titles beginning with our major action RPG, The Last Remnant. Square Enix is committed to delivering the best quality titles to PC gamers and distribution on Steam is one of the many steps we are taking to increase accessibility for fans in North America and PAL territories."
[/center]
The Japanese RPG is not overly saturated in the American PC gaming market, so whether you are a fan of Square Enix's work or not, it is always good to see a diversification of offerings made available to consumers.
The guys over at Valve must be happy with the success of their digital distribution system as more and more big-name publishers continue to throw themselves behind the service. "We are thrilled that Square Enix chose to bring its diverse portfolio of titles to Steam and know that our customers will be ecstatic to hear this news." reported Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve.
Only one question remains- When will McDonald's be offered through Steam, so that I can eat while I scrounge for achievements?
D.I.C.E Summit Overview Part 1 |
Posted by:Aeonstorm on Feb 24th, 2009, 07:33:36
The Design, Innovate, Communicate and Entertain, or D.I.C.E summit of 2009 has been an exciting event for game designers of all kinds to show off their new games, and also a forum for discussion of game design and different aspects of games. The first part of this summary of the D.I.C.E summit will focus on individual developers and interviews with famous people from the gaming industry.
G4TV’s Raymond Padilla did a range of interviews with key people at the D.I.C.E summit, including Chris Taylor, CEO and Founder of Gas Powered Games, and famous for his Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander games. Chris is renowned as one of the funniest men in the game development industry; however, this is not hard to imagine, as most game developers are probably on the nerdy side of the social spectrum. Anyway, Chris talked about Gas Powered Game’s merging with Square Enix, one of the most prestigious game publishers of Japan. He said that he was surprised by the fact that Square Enix focused more on the artistic side of the game, whereas the Western developers he was used to tended to care a lot more about the financial side. Chris also went through some of the first PC games he ever made; baseball games, and explained how a lot of his success in the RTS genre has stemmed from his experience in this genre. One of the other main points mentioned by Chris is his view on console games, particularly in the RTS genre, and he says that while he will be keeping a close eye on it, he won’t be jumping on the bandwagon yet, as making strategy games for consoles requires a lot of rethinking and reimagining of the basics of the genre, most of which have been taken for granted for years.
Another large figure of the gaming industry who appeared at D.I.C.E was Jun Takeuchi, whose current project, Resident Evil 5, is looking like it will be one of the best-selling games of 2009. He spoke about the weakening of the Japanese game industry, and whether Japanese developers would be able to survive outside of Japan, in the western world of game development. While the Street Fighter series has met excellent critical acclaim, and the Nintendo Wii has also taken on massive popularity, most Japanese games are culturally focused on Japan itself, and do not translate well to the global market. Takeuchi likened this to ‘dyeing a game blonde’, and cited the Onimusha samurai series, as well as Sega’s falling demand for its ‘Japanese-oriented cute mascot character games’. Takeuchi stated that he believed that to be able to expand to the global market, Japanese developers had to take more risks, and follow the examples of Western developers, rather than making games solely for the shrinking Japanese market.
Another legend of the gaming industry is the late Ensemble Studio’s co-founder, Bruce Shelley, who has developed such classics as Age of Empires, as well as the highly-anticipated Halo Wars. He spoke of the forming of Ensemble Studios in Dallas, way back in 1995, and of the wild journey ever since. Ensemble Studios, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2001, has been a hugely successful game developer, selling more than 20 million games, many of which were the classic Age of Empires, which was the equivalent of an 800-pound gorilla of RTS gaming back in its day. He described the way Ensemble approached game-design as a ‘board-game approach’, where the whole development team took part in play-testing and feedback, allowing a much wider range of opinion on what features were good and what weren’t. However, in the end, Ensemble was shut down, probably due to the fact that it mainly produced RTS games, in an era where FPS and action games were taking over. One of the bittersweet moments of the D.I.C.E summit for Bruce was his induction into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science’s Hall of Fame, just as his company was being shut down and its employees split into studios: Bonfire Studios and Robot Entertainment. Bruce Shelley has said that he has high hopes that these new studios will carry on the work that Ensemble has done for so many years.
A lot of other big personalities visited the D.I.C.E summit as well, including Mark Rein, the vice-president of Epic Games, famous for Unreal and Gears of War, Todd Howard, game director and producer at Bethesda, famous for The Elder Scroll’s series, as well as Fallout 3, and John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts and one of the heavyweights of gaming. There were also countless others, and to see the full lineup of speakers at the D.I.C.E summit, visit their website.
Part 2 of the D.I.C.E 2009 Overview will focus on various aspects of gaming, such as whether reviews are important to gaming, and how small games are taking over the market.
Quake Live Beta starts on Tuesday |
Posted by:Herz on Feb 22nd, 2009, 03:12:57
For many of us Quake III Arena revolutionized the way we looked at FPS, specifically on how it's played and designed. The Quake III engine was used for a number of major FPS titles such as Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and as an influence for others such as the original Call of Duty. It's without a doubt that this system made a huge impact on the genre itself.
There hasn't been any major Quake titles released since Enemy Territory in 2007, however id Software has been at work on a new version of Quake entitled Quake Live. This version of Quake however is completely different from the previous games in the series.
Quake Live will played entirely through your web browser and is completely free. It's been stated that there will be sponsored events, tournaments and more for Quake Live. While the game will be free, the main source of revenue will be through advertising. We can assume these ads will be placed throughout the game and on the actual site.
There will be an open beta for the game starting this Tuesday, February 24th, 2009. With this beta we'll be to see if this game truly will be revolutionary itself, as the series has been in its past. In order to participate all you have to do is simply go to quakelive.com on Tuesday! A countdown in terms of seconds is listed on the site itself in the right hand corner.
At DICE 2009, David Perry, co-founder of Acclaim Entertainment, stated that he believes single player gaming is dying and that everything is going towards online. He believes that games will eventually be solely distributed over the internet instead of requiring a physical copy. Specifically, he believes that free-to-play online games will be the next biggest thing in the gaming industry. With Quake Live on the horizon, we can only wonder if his statement is true and if there's more games to come that are similar to how QL functions.
Ensemble Studios Devs Are Back with Robot |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Feb 19th, 2009, 12:13:37
Ensemble Studios is dead and gone. Some of the original cast, however, is back in action in the newly formed Robot Entertainment.
Tony Goodman was the founder of Ensemble and is the CEO of Robot. Along with Tony, Robot has 45 staff members that are all former Ensemble employees. In case you don't remember Ensemble Studios, they started the hit franchise Age Of Empires and Halo Wars for Xbox 360. Robot will continue with content for Halo Wars as well as supporting Age Of Empire while developing new titles and its original IP.
Although game developers are facing some difficulty staying competitive in tough economic conditions, Goodman has high hopes for his new-found company as it adapts to meet the demands of changing times.
"The video game industry is in a state of upheaval, not just games, but the entire landscape," Goodman said in a press release. "Everything is changing: where we buy games, how we buy games, how much we pay, how long we play, who we play them with. As a fast-moving independent team of game developers, industry leaders and market experts, Robot Entertainment is ideally positioned to play a transformative role in the industry's future."
It seems as though Robot is going forward 100% without a backward glance into the past and will continue its role in the Gaming community.
Posted by:Mystery^ on Feb 10th, 2009, 12:01:33
Blizzard has just released the newest episode of its podcast BlizzCast. The latest edition BlizzCast (Episode 7) opens with a discussion about World of Warcraft from the game developers. Their main concern being the new expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King. Wrath of the Lich King is the most recent add-on to the very popular Massively Multiplayer Online-RPG that is World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft currently has millions of players that are active daily. Making it the most popular game of our time.
The second part of BlizzCast (Episode 7) is a basic storyline overview of Wrath of the Lich King.Chris Metzen, Senior Vice President of Creative Development, joins the discussion in part two. Chris gives a lot of background history around the gameplay. Even though World of Warcraft isn’t supported on GameReplays.org this podcast will still be an enjoyable listen for many members. Especially those that play World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft can be compared to the Lord of the Rings series, in the sense that the games are fun to play, but the lore is fun to explore. A little back story goes a long way with games, it intrigues the players and lets them know more about the battles they are entering.
Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers |
Posted by:TDA on Feb 10th, 2009, 11:10:01
We all know the major pastimes of men: video games and women. To be specific, violent video games that usually involve mutilating zombies and beautiful women with little or no clothing. Unfortunately, they don't always mix. Now think about a zombie-killing game with hot women, all of them in bikinis, as katana-wielding, ass-kicking main characters. You get Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad for the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.
[onechanbara=right] [/onechanbara]Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad is the ultimate evolution of the blood-splattering samurai action game. Take on the role of beautiful but deadly Aya or her little sister Saki, both of whom will need to put their legendary samurai skills to the test in order to battle legions of zombies terrorizing their city. Armed with only their swords and their beauty, these deadly sisters will stop at nothing to rid their home of the zombie threat. Every person they meet and enemy they battle gets them closer to understand who or what is behind this zombie outbreak so they can put an end to it. Babes, bikinis, zombies, blood and swords… who could ask for more!
Now who are these mysterious sisters exactly?
Aya is a beautiful 21-year-old who is proficient in swordplay. Being a descendent of baneful blood, she takes advantage of the skill by making a living as an assassin. Saki, mastermind of the zombie case (occurred somewhere in Tokyo), is her half-blooded younger sister. On a sidenote, her birthday is on February 14th, make sure you take full advantage of that.
Saki is a common 16-year-old student at first glance. However, she too is an assassin who takes on assassination lightly as though it were a part-time job. She also carries baneful blood just like her older sister Aya. However, Saki is more affected by this blood. That may be why she is so violent, not knowing how to express her feelings. She has a tendency to lose control of herself and get very violent when she sees blood or sharp blades. In the Wii version, a new variation is added to the throwing attacks after grasping an enemy. The cruel 'Beat Dead Attack' when she sheathes her sword is a must-see.
The games are not exactly the same on both consoles: the Wii delivers you some real-time sword action, fully utilizing the Wii controllers, whereas the Xbox 360 allows you play a third character and, probably the most interesting, a dress-up mode which let's you dress your characters to personal preference.
View the full game details for the Xbox 360 version and for the Wii version.
Fortunately for those of us without a date on Valentine's Day, this game is set to release before then on the Xbox 360 and Wii.
The Dangers of a Steam Monopoly |
Posted by:Trojan. on Feb 10th, 2009, 05:25:11
Stardock CEO Brad Wardell has issued a reminder to gamers who believe Steam should be the only online game delivery store in the market.
Blogging under his Frogboy pseudonym, Wardell alludes to the fact that Microsoft and Electronic Arts, perhaps the most despised organisations in the industry, started out just like Valve.
"People routinely give me a hard time because I still like Electronic Arts. How is that possible? Because to me, when I think of Electronic Arts I think of Archon, MULE, Seven Cities of Gold, Starflight, and Summer Games.
When I was an OS/2 zealot, the up and coming star was Microsoft. Its fan boys helped ensure that Windows, not OS/2, became the standard OS. For many people today, it’s hard to imagine Microsoft as the fanboy favorite – the company that could do no wrong – the company that would never do anything “evil”.
Now, we live in an industry absolutely dominated by Microsoft and Electronic Arts. Its fanboys got their way. Is there anything wrong with that? You tell me.
Today, the pattern repeats itself. Steam is doing phenomenally well. It has fanboys that actively wish that competition would just go away in the name of “standards” (whatever that means)."
It has been over 6 months since the release of Impulse, Stardock's own content delivery system and rival to Steam. In its short existence Impulse has injected much needed competition in the market, which we all know is a good thing for consumers.
Titles released on Impulse include Sins of a Solar Empire, Galatic Civilizations II, Supreme Commander as well as the latest Gas Powered Games and Stardock title Demigod.
For anyone interested in Demigod, it is currently at the beta stage which is open to all who Pre-Order Demigod
The full blog from Frogboy can be read at Impulse Driven
With the holiday season well behind us, now seems to be the perfect time to check in on how PC gaming sales are doing. In the interest of consulting multiple sources to get a better feel for what games people are currently purchasing, we will take a look at the numbers generated by both the NPD Group and Steam. While the latter certainly requires no introduction, the former is a global market research firm that specializes in chronicling a myriad of consumer research data.
NPD Sales Figures for Jan 18 - Jan 24:Steam Most Popular as of Feb 3Most interesting is the fact that Blizzard games are not available via Steam, so right now there is no way to directly compare their titles to others in the arena of digital distribution. Other than the Blizzard omission, however, the two lists have a lot in common. Unfortunately, the actual numbers of titles sold via Steam is not currently available, so it is difficult to truly compare the successes of digital distribution and that of physical media.
2009 Leipzig Games Convention Canceled |
The Annual Leipzig Games Convention, one of the most important conventions in the gaming community, has been canceled for 2009 according to event organizers. The event which was scheduled for August 20-23 was forced to shut down when Nintendo and Sony committed to Gamescom a Games Convention rival. The contract for the fair in Cologne was signed by the German Trade Association of Interactive Entertainment Software, where the biggest publishers are organized in Germany. They take 80% of the market share in Germany which was a substantial loss to the Leipzig Convention. This was a major blow to the planning of the convention and ultimately resulted in its cancellation.
The Games Convention was an extremely popular event with over 203,000 visitors in 2008. The event has also been rumored to have been replaced by Gaes Convention Online, which will also be held in Leipzig in late Summer or early Fall 2009.
The news has resulted in much speculation from the gaming community as to why they are closing. Many suggest that they are merely observing the Cologne fair and canceling the 2009 event to come up with a better program for 2010. Others propose that because many of the publishers are located in Cologne, which is a larger city than Leipzig, it would be easier to hold the convention there. As of right now, there is no evidence to suggest that this is the end of the Games Conventions in Leipzig.
Microsoft to Cut 5000 Jobs |
Continuing the doom and gloom of the economic recession, Microsoft has announced that they will be laying off up to 5,000 workers from its 90,000 staff around the world within the next 18 months. One thousand four hundred shocked employees have already been told to leave, after a less-than-expected profit margin which slipped from 4.7 billion dollars in 2007, to 4.17 billion in 2008.
This was accompanied by a sharp drop in Microsoft’s share value, to a 52-week low of $17.50, which dropped further to $17.19 when the announcement to cut jobs was made. However, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer has confidence that Microsoft will be able to survive the current economic turmoil. “While we are not immune to the effects of the economy, I am confident in the strength of our product portfolio and soundness of our approach.”
While Microsoft remains an extremely profitable company; due in no small part to the virtual monopoly that it has on the IT industry and its ever-increasing Entertainment and Devices division, fueled by the extreme popularity of the Xbox 360; this is just another sign of things to come, things which will deeply affect the online gaming community and more importantly, the computers and software that we use everyday.
As far as GameReplays is concerned, Microsoft is a big company. Will this actually affect our PC gaming hobby? Sadly, the answer is yes. In addition to the news that one of gaming's longest running franchises, Flight Simulator had its staff slashed, even more of the 1400 predicted lost jobs are expected to hit the entertainment division.
A reported 30% of Microsoft game testers have been terminated, and more lay-offs occurred within the Games for Windows team, though the numbers remain uncertain.
For those of you worried about Flight Simulator, the future of the franchise remains in question. Even those completely uninterested in the title can see how unfortunate it is to witness the potential end of such a long running gaming establishment.
Since the current 1400 layoffs do not even account for half of the coming Microsoft cuts, more slashings from the gaming division should be expected over the next 18 months. It would appear that gaming just doesn't have what it takes to be on the top of Microsoft's shrinking priority list in this economic climate, but it would be shortsighted for anyone to believe that Microsoft is alone in this situation, especially in the wake of the recent Circuit City collapse.
GameReplays Is Looking For Possible "Total War" Staff |
Posted by:TDA on Jan 27th, 2009, 12:15:47
GameReplays is looking for people who are interested in helping with building up a brand new section for the upcoming title Empire: Total War. We are looking into fully supporting this game as it looks like the multiplayer part improved a lot from its predecessors, which should make it a very good multiplayer experience.
Please contact -Sebra if you are interested, we will get back to you soon!
Red Alert 3 Nominated For WGA Award |
Posted by:Hyggan on Jan 22nd, 2009, 16:03:14
The WGA (Writers Guild of America) has announced its nominees for the annual Video Game Writing Award. By the nominees we can find Red Alert 3 being one of the contenders for the prize. The award itself is a relatively new prize, this is the second year of prizes. The award itself was founded to “encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, improve the status of writers, and foster uniform standards within the gaming industry."
With its famous acting cutscenes, it’s not a surprise that Red Alert 3 is on the list this year. The story itself is about how after being pushed back to Moscow, the communists decided to go back in time and kill the famous scientist Albert Einstein who is responsible for the technologic superiority of the Allied forces. The act is successful and Europe is in peace, but then something new arises from the East. The Empire of The Rising Sun decides to try and achieve world domination and suddenly the world is back in war again.
Other games nominated for the award:- Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! (Mousechief).
- Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios).
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts).
- Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos).
We on GameReplays wish all the nominees best of luck and we’re waiting with excitement to see who will win the award at the Writers Guild Awards on Feb 7th.
2009 PC Gaming Release Horizon |
The year 2009. It doesn't look like we will be getting sweet flying cars or personal jetpacks like they keep promising us as small children, but we do have plenty to look forward to on the PC gaming front.
Every new year brings in a slew of new releases, and it can be hard for the average gamer to keep track of it all, especially the average gamer on a budget. When money is tight, GameReplays readers may only be able to make a select few gaming-related purchases each month or even each year, so it is important to plan ahead.
Below, there is a compiled list of titles that are expected to be out this coming year to be used as an easy reference for our readers. Get out your Google calendars folks, its time to start penciling in some expenditures.
None of these release dates are necessarily new to those who have been following the titles, this is just meant to be an outline for the year's highlights.
This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather include as many highlights as possible that should appeal to the GameReplays crowd. Links to their official websites are included:For the most part, the release dates listed for February can be trusted, as they are so quickly approaching that they are unlikely to change. Beyond February, it is best to remain skeptical, as many retailers push for ill-advised premature release dates for the sole purpose of securing pre-order sales.
The March 3rd release date of both Tom Clancy titles listed above is an object of suspicion. It is somewhat doubtful that they would release both of their titles on the same day, so it is more than likely that this date is more of a placeholder than an actual shipping deadline. March 3rd remains the rumored release, however.
The list refrains from delving into the mystery that is the Blizzard release schedule, so don't expect to see Starcraft 2 or Diablo get added to that list.
Most interesting is the close proximity between the ship dates of two of the more anticipated expansions of the year, Tales of Valor and Uprising. Money sure is going to be tight, if they hit the rumored release date, that is.
Circuit City Closing All US Stores |
Posted by:Hyggan on Jan 17th, 2009, 16:27:23
The second largest consumer electronics retailer in the US, Circuit City, is going out of business because consumers are unwilling to spend as much. They will be closing their 567 U.S. stores and cutting 34,000 jobs.
The company had been looking for a buyer or a deal to get out of its debts, but due to the unstable financial market, consumers haven’t been willing to buy as much, resulting in Circuit City not getting bought.
Two buyers had been interested in buying the company, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who is in charge of a chain electronics stores in Latin America, and the Golden Gate Capital private equity firm. Both were looking into buying the company in a shrunk form, either 350 stores or even as few as 180 stores. But the company wasn’t able to get a hold of the necessary financing, thus resulting in the chain of stores going out of business.
It’s still not sure what will happen with the stores in Canada. It is stated that there are still bids for the Canadian business, by whom isn’t known.
Malls nationwide are already hurt by vacancies after other stores liquidated, but malls will be even more hurt by the closing of the Circuit City stores, since they range in size from 20,000 feet to 25,000 feet.
Due to the ongoing financial crisis, no one seems safe during this very unstable period; we've have already see how crippled the games industry have become compared to the sunshine stories you've seen during the last couple of years.
Razer Mamba and Carcharias Released |
Posted by:Hyggan on Jan 09th, 2009, 23:02:40
At the Consumer Electronics Show, Razer unveiled two new additions to their cutting edge gaming accessories: the Razer Mamba, a high precision wireless laser gaming mouse, and the Razer Carcharias, a circumaural audio headset.
These new products have been made to improve any gamer's gaming experience and allow "enhanced game play for longer periods of time." With the usual sleek black design of Razer, these new products seem like winners even before anyone even has tested them.
[h3]Razer Mamba[/h3]
Razer has unleashed the full potential of gaming mice by designing an ergonomic, lag free gaming mouse with 2.4GHz gaming grade wireless technology, making it the fastest mouse both on and off the cord. With dual mode wired/wireless functionality, the Razer Mamba lets users immediately and seamlessly switch from wired to wireless play. With first in class polling rates at 1ms as compared to traditional wireless mice that poll at 8ms, players will have virtually lag free game play.
Specifications- Gaming Grade Wireless Technology
- Dual Mode Wired/Wireless Functionality
- Razer Synapse™ On-board Memory
- 5600DPI Razer Precision™ 3.5G Laser sensor
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response rate
- Up to 200 inches per second*/ 50g acceleration
- Battery Life: 14hrs (continuous gaming); 72hrs (normal gaming usage)
Cost: US- $129.99; Europe- €129.99
Available: Razerzone.com Feb, 2009, Worldwide Q1 2009
[h3]Razer Carcharias[/h3]
The Razer Carcharias is the essence of uncompromised comfort and audio clarity. The Razer Carcharias contain certain key features focused on comfort, like a circumaural shape to allow full over-ear coverage, interchangeable ear pads for a custom fit and a fully adjustable headband. The Razer Carcharias headset boasts superior audio clarity, deep, thumping bass and a noise filtering microphone. An inline remote lets users quickly and easily adjust volume and mute the microphone.
Specifications
Headphone- Frequency Response: 20 - 20,000 Hz
- Sensitivity (@1kHz, 1V/Pa): 102 ± 4dB at 1 kHzMax.
- Input Power: 200 mW
- Drivers: 40 mm, with neodymium Magnets
Microphone- Frequency Response: 50 – 16,000 Hz
- Sensitivity( @1kHz, 1V/Pa): -37 ± 4dB
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 50 dB
- Pick-up pattern: Unidirectional
- Cable: 3 meters, Braided Fiber Sheath
- Connector: 3.5 mm jack (headphone and mic)
Cost: US- $79.99; Europe- €79.99
Available: Razerzone.com Jan, 2009, Worldwide Q1 2009
TN Games HTX Helmet for FPS Games |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Jan 06th, 2009, 02:20:10
Every day, video games are getting more and more realistic. What gives gamers that adrenaline is the feeling of being in the midst of the action and the illusion of being in control of that action. Each new game strives for better graphics, sound and player immersion to make the experience more life-like.
The newest product to give you this experience is the HXT Helmet. The HTX Helmet is to be worn while playing a First-Person Shooter. Bullets flying by your head? Have you just taken a headshot? You will feel it all while wearing the HXT Helmet. Now, while graphics are visually appealing, with this new you gear, you can actually feel what it's like to be in the game.
The HTX Helmet should be used in conjunction with the TN Games Gaming Vest. The vest delivers impacts from the game to a players torso. The vest and helmet are made with the new 3rd Space technology, which is designed to get a better feel for the action of video games.. These tools will make you feel like you are right in the action or, at least, as close as you can be without a trip to the morgue! There is no release date for the helmet, though it will likely be released sometime in 2009. No price has been set.
[youtube]GnQ7sReoCcw[/youtube]
Perhaps the only thing that has steadied the growth of monstrously successful MMO titles like World of Warcraft is the reluctance of consumers to foot the monthly subscription bills.
Well aware of this stigma, the perceptive folks over at Blizzard have banded together with the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society in a bid to raise funds, promising to reward a few lucky donors with free subscriptions to the World of Warcraft.
To be in the running simply donate $25 or more to the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society before January 5 2009. A total of four winners will be selected, with three 1 year time cards and one lifetime subscription up for grabs.
EA games soon to be on Steam? |
Posted by:Hyggan on Dec 19th, 2008, 16:33:46
Steam is one of the largest online game distributors in the world, selling games by most publishers. It has set the benchmark for selling PC games via the Internet. Even though they sell games from most game publishers, at least one has kept its titles off of Steam: Electronic Arts. But according to some evidence found by Shacknews, this might be about to change with Spore being available for Steam.
With the mystical arrival of an EULA (End User License Agreement) for Spore on Steam's website, it appears that this might come to a reality. Even though this EULA has appeared, neither Valve nor EA have announced that more EA games will be distributed via Steam. EA is the also the company that helped Valve/Steam distribute the widely popular Left4Dead to retail stores.
EA games has long refused to distribute games via Steam and instead sell them via their own digital distribution platform. There have been exceptions though, and one of them are the Crysis games developed by Crytek, which were made available on Steam earlier this year.
If EA is going to sell their games via Steam, what will happen to their own online store? Will their own online store keep selling games? Or is this a sign that EA's own attempt to distribute their games online failed?
An Incredible Replay Review by AmiPolizeiFunk |
Posted by:Hyggan on Dec 18th, 2008, 22:08:21
As a christmas gift, the Reborn clan leader AmiPolizeiFunk has written a fantastic review for his clan mate Marinez, a.k.a. HDMicro's game entitled, "A WTF Game by the 4ES".
This isn't like any review we have ever seen where the reviewer describes the game and gives some general tips for the players. In this review, he tells a story and gives the game a unique identity instead of it just being another good game on St. Mere Dumont. In the review, he turns the game into a historical event set a few days after the landings on D-Day. At the same time, he describes the game in a way that makes you want to watch it as if it were a real movie.
The review is titled: Ste Marie du Mont Panzer Elite Light Armor Counter-attack, June 8, 1944. He describes the events of the replay as if they happened during a day in the life of the soldiers' as written in their diaries. He portrays some of the repaly as survivor stories in a way that is only seen in historical books or a telivision documentary. It is definitely not what you would expect in a replay review for an RTS computer game.
Read AmiPolizeiFunk's Review
We at Gamereplays.org encourage this kind of unique and out-of-the-box thinking to make this game and the replay reviews even more interesting! We hope that you are as impressed with AmiPolizeiFunk's "My ode to CoH" as we were. Thanks for the great story!
If writing reviews like this on interests you, please PM our Senior Replay Reviewer, BoH. to apply for a Replay Reviewer position with Gamereplays.org
[replay]61750[/replay]
Dawn of War II Nears Completion - Insider Commentary |
It's been a busy week indeed for the Dawn of War II community! Amid the long-awaited unveiling of the multiplayer side of Relic Entertainment's latest strategy game and the invitation-only sneak peek at the game held in London just yesterday, the buzz around the game has grown markedly, and by all accounts it's holding up to the hype in every respect. GameReplays was fortunate enough to have a member of its writing staff attending the London event to snag some juicy first-hand information, and was even able to field some community-submitted questions to the Dawn of War II Lead Designer, Johnny Ebbert. That said, I'll let his notes speak for themselves from here out.
It was an awesome day! Got a solid amount of time with the game. I played the first handful of single-player missions and another handful of basic skirmishes. Sadly, no proper multiplayer since Gamerbase had problems with LAN connections.
I'm going to try and answer the various questions and stuff now, but this is by no means complete information and I might have forgotten stuff. If there's something you want to know, ask away!
Questions & Things Observed
Node Support Structures: How do they function? How many different types are there?
It seems that the only node support structures are the power generators. These upgrades, despite being a gamble, are in many cases a necessity to purchase - particularly in a 1v1 match.
In order to build generators, you must first 'secure' the power node, using an upgrade similar to a listening post in Company of Heroes.
Turrets: How do they work? Where can they be built? Who is able to build them?
Turrets are a special ability of certain classes, in particular the Techmarine. They can be placed on any terrain - provided it's flat - and have what appears to be a 360 arc of fire. Their damage output is respectable; however, it seems most useful for suppression and area denial.
Tier System: Are Tier upgrades visible on the HQ? Can HQ upgrades be targeted? How can the tech tree be 'attacked'
From what I saw, there wasn't much in terms of visual difference in the tiers. I'm also unsure how the tech tree can be attacked. It is worth noting however, that the lack of resource income has a far more noticeable effect than previous games.
Territory Control: Is it similar to Company of Heroes? Can resources be cut off or are the nodes simply standalone?
There is no territory assigned to nodes. They are their own entity and provide bonuses irrespective of its relation to other nodes.
Commanders: Names. Abilities.
Space Marines: Force Commander, Apothecary, Techmarine.
Orks: Warboss, Kommando, Mek
Eldar: Warlock, Warp Spider, Farseer
Tyranids: Hive Tyrant, Ravenor, Lictor
Relic Units: Are they in? Do they go by a different name/system? Race specifics.
No relic units per se, but Tier 3 units are all very expensive and powerful. The ones I saw were:
Space Marines: Predator
Tyranid: Carnifex
Eldar: Avatar
For those going "WTF Predator??" it's worth noting that even a Razorback shredded my units, the Predator is vicious.
Cover System: Exactly the same as Company of Heroes? Is the glowing cover just a visual cue or does it mean something in addition? Can cover be 'downgraded' through fire.
The glow on certain cover seems to be a simple compliment to the Company of Heroes-style dots. As for the cover itself, it appears to be imported wholesale from Company of Heroes.
Maps: Number. Variety. Are they all 3v3 or are there others for smaller numbers?
In the version I was playing, there were five maps; three 3v3 and two 1v1.
Mods: How moddable will it be? Can stats be altered?
There is no official comment on the matter but it is likely that it will be of a similar level to Company of Heroes.
Sound: Is it comparable to Company of Heroes?
My headset was a bit bawked. I heard enough to tell that the dialog and character banter was very impressive, and the weapon effects were suitably beefy. The Hive mind voice also works well, despite sounding a bit robot-like.
Ranked Matches: What game types will be ranked?
Visual Wargear: Can this only be obtained through 3v3 Automatch?
Pre-order: Will there be any bonuses?
I didn't get round to asking these, sorry.
Beta: Will all Soulstorm purchasers be eligible to participate?
Apparently so. Also, according to Johnny, the beta is starting soon.
Damage Values: Will they be displayed on the unit tab? If not, is there anywhere to find out what units do what damage?
It's very clear in the single-player, thanks to the loadout screen. In the multiplayer, it wasn't quite as obvious.
Patching: Frequency. Any big content in the works?
Frequent updates are pretty much a certainty. Heard the 'there's always that chance' line in person for the big content question.
Johnny Ebbert's favourite unit:
Bit of a random one here but I was curious. He said it was a tough choice but...
The Avatar? The Carnifex? Nope, the Shuriken Platfom...
Observations
Here are just some general points that struck me while playing throughout the day, both single-player and multiplayer. These range from broad-sweeping to random and largely unimportant. A Dawn of War II Miscellany of sorts.- Wargear and Ammo pickups appear to be handled abstractly. The units don't go over to it go 'Aha! The Maltese Burger'. You click it and it adds to your inventory; it's you receiving it, not the Marines.
- Friendly frag grenades have no timer in single-player. Demo pack does.
- The game ran very smoothly, more than the promotional videos - even the gameplay ones - would indicate.
- "Ragdoll" is in. It makes for amusing effect with the Orks, as they seem to land 'Jackie Chan on a glass table'-style when they get knocked back, with their legs boinging behind their ears.
- Retreat is similar to Company of Heroes, however, units start slow and gain speed over time. This is so that melee attackers are able to chase and get hits in even after the order.
- Melee can hit while on the move
- Sync-kills happen less often, but as a counter to that, the ones that are there are brilliant and the standard death animations look far more dynamic, thanks to Ragdoll.
- Gibbing is most definitely in.
- Unlike Company of Heroes, tanks do not leave wrecks that can be used for cover. This was apparently due to time constraints and they are keen on patching it in later.
- The boss fights are interesting but I imagine they will be an acquired taste. They are the most RPG aspect of the single-player I saw and were quite protracted and didn't make much 'fluffy' sense. However! I personally found them very entertaining and each boss had a distinct style, character and challenge.
- The single-player campaign has lots of fluffy goodness throughout. The banter between the sergeants is a great touch. The Wargear makes numerous nods to prior Blood Raven engagements, e.g. having a chainsword named 'Tartarus', and a suit of armour described as having 'all the battles of the Blood Raven's inscribed upon it'. Also, I'm not certain on this but the voice introducing the single-player campaign sounded a lot like Gabriel Angelos.
- The default multiplayer camera pulls quite far back, notably further than the one in Dawn of War.
- The sync kills have been improved considerably, and provoked many a grin throughout the course of the day. For instance, when equipped with a shining spear, the Warlock delivers the crippling blow, hurls the spear into the opponent's chest (Achilles style) and then retrieves it with his leet force powers.
- The Eldar are no longer portrayed as 'prancing space elves' to use Johnny Ebbert's words. They are now more like 'Sinister Shadow Space Ninjas'
- Bolters fire more slowly now. Less 'ratta tat tat' more 'doof doof doof'. If it sounds like an SMG it's because about 10 are firing at once.
- The Army Painter! I saw lots of people asking about this. I only gave it a quick look but I saw that you can have the regular look, vertical half half-half schemes, horizontal half-half scheme and quarter schemes. In short, a lot more variety and a more intuitive interface. (EDIT: Turns out this is just for the Space Marines, the other races get a similar format to the old painter, alas!)
Units & Commanders in Multiplayer (intro bit)
A bit of prior warning. The MP will likely jar a lot of people. The unit roster across for every army has been scaled back. In addition, the universal teching for an army is very straightforward. This is countered by the upgrades being a larger investment and having a more pronounced effect on a units role and effectiveness. Johnny did however suggest that this will inevitably be expanded over time.
Also, it is worth noting there doesn't appear to be any such thing as a redundant unit. Tier 1 units begin an remain useful throughout the progression of a game, and fill a niche that no other unit can, either due to abilities or general battlefield function. Again, a Company of Heroes thing it would appear.
Finally, a note on Wargear. Ability upgrades are almost completely - if not, completely - obtained through wargear upgrades, purchased with req. and power. There are a variety to choose from and you have to chose specific pieces, it isn't a collect 'em all situation. These are generally a weapon, armour and accessory, some of which provide passive buffs, others active abilities.
So yes, that's part 1! I'll be going by memory but if there's anything you want answered, ask and I shall attempt to remember.
Thanks very much to Tirranek, our London reporter! For even more multiplayer information, you can check out our previous Dawn of War II article, Dawn of War II Multiplayer Gameplay: First Look.
GR Version 1.1.0 - New Header & Navigation |
GameReplays has just been updated to version 1.1 with a new header and navigation design. The design accomplishes two goals: begin the overhaul to the visual design of GameReplays, and to make navigation simpler and more efficient.
The new design marks the beginning of a visual refresh on GameReplays. Future updates to the rest of the site will update the skin of various system to be cleaner, more colorful, and more optimized for loading speed.
From a navigation perspective, users can now get to virtually any point within a section directly. An example is the replay system. Prior to this update, you couldn't go directly from say, the home page to the replay hall of fame. Now that is possible, since the sub-navigation appears just from mousing over the main navigation tabs.
In addition, the navigation has been simplified. We want the primary navigation links to focus only on the core of what GameReplays is all about. Too many links can overwhelm new users, and can make it difficult to pinpoint what the major elements of the site actually are.
There were also a number of minor updates including the addition of the GameReplays.org Privacy Policy, and various back-end updates to help manage the site.
As always let us know if you find any bugs by posting in this news topic.
FCC Boss Blames Games for College Dropouts |
Posted by:Hyggan on Dec 13th, 2008, 00:39:37
The FCC chairman Debora Taylor Tate is known for her opinion of digital rights. But now she is also blaming online games for college dropouts.
FCC Chairman Debora Taylor Tate blamed online games in an address at the Practicing Law Institute, quoting her words:
"You might find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college dropouts in the U.S. is online gaming addiction - such as World of Warcraft - which is played by 11 million individuals,"
Even though these are strong words, her arguments had no real facts nor did she provide any comparison to other oft-cited reasons such as "family responsibilities," "financial reasons," and "offered a good job."
Its easy to blame online games if you're citing and misrepresenting studies from 2006 and 2007 on Internet usage and parental involvement in an attempt to convince people into supporting your digital rights management and anti-net neutrality agendas. There is no real proof that games are the reason behind college students dropping out.
About a week ago, Tate talked about how important digital rights management methods, such as watermarking and fingerprinting, are enabling new methods of electronic distribution. Also, she spoke about her opposition to net neutrality:
"It's crucial that we not only allow operators to manage their networks, but to not tie their hands with prescriptive regulations. And make no mistake, "net neutrality" as network management is sometimes referenced in Washington and among political discussants, if implemented in its strictest form, will tie the hands of network operators. Digital fingerprinting and watermarking would not be possible if net neutrality is enforced in its harshest form."
Digital rights are an important, issue and we would like to hear your opinion. GameReplays.org invites you to Leave a Comment.
Invent-A-Game Competition |
Posted by:Mystery^ on Dec 09th, 2008, 20:43:53
Ever wanted something more out of a game? Played a game and you just didn't like it as much as you thought you would and started listing in your head what could make the game better? Here is your chance! This is an opportunity to make your own game the way you see fit. Sports, Action, Adventure, Fantasy and most importantly RTS are examples of the types of game you can create. Build the game around your imagination and give it the edge it needs to get the top prize. The challenge is sponsored by EA and Best Buy along with The United Inventors Association and By Kids For Kids.
Unfortunately, this contest is only for U.S citizens of the age 5-19 and runs from December 5th to March 31st 2009. Grand prize includes a $10,000 Dollar Savings Bond, $100 Best Buy gift card, a trip to both Best Buy Headquarters in Minnosota and Electronic Arts Casual studio in California, as well as having your game published by EA, along with others. State prizes are going to be awarded for NY, NJ, PA, MD and VA. This is a great opportunity for America's Youth to show what they really want in their video games and what they like to play. Almost every kid plays video games these days and they could be playing your game! It's often said that kids have the best imagination and now it's time to prove it.
Left 4 Dead Portal Launched |
Posted by:Herz on Dec 09th, 2008, 06:26:00
With the worldwide release of Left 4 Dead on November 18, 2008 has been a huge seller with an estimated 3.6 to 3.9 million retail units sold already (not counting the numbers from Steam). Situated as co-op zombie survival story in a post-apocalyptic world, L4D comes as the latest game from Valve. Due to its intense team work based game design and the amount of strategy involved, GameReplays has opened up a Left 4 Dead Portal.
All news regarding the game and any released content can be viewed on the main portal. Feel free to join our discussion on the Left 4 Dead forums as well.
We've already released our first strategy guide, entitled "How to Kill A Tank". This describes how to effectively take down the tank with minimal casualties!
Stargate Worlds Developer In Financial Trouble |
As the global economic crisis tightens its grip on worldwide commerce, we are reminded yet again that our beloved video game industry is far from secure in this climate of financial turmoil.
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, the developer behind the upcoming Sci-Fi MMO Stargate Worlds has confirmed reports that it has been hard-pressed to maintain a steady payroll of late:
“At Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, we have always been upfront with the media and our fans that we are a start up. Like many start ups, we face the same cash-flow issues that all pre-revenue companies face. We have maintained a core of dedicated investors, but the new economic realities are forcing us to seek out additional sources of funding and that’s what we’re doing.”
The extent of CME’s difficulty is made fairly plain in the aptly named website Days Since Cheyenne Mountain Employees Have Been Paid, which currently proffers that the developers haven’t brought home the bacon for 25 days.
Thankfully, CME maintains that their developmental progression on Stargate Worlds has not been halted by this issue, stating in an interview with videogaming247 that a second closed-beta is scheduled for the beginning of 2009.
We can only hope that things start to pick up for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment soon, as we hurtle towards Christmas, the season of spending.
AIDS Prevention Game in Kenya |
Posted by:Hyggan on Dec 07th, 2008, 18:15:54
The U.S. government and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are launching a free multi-player PC game in Kenya to change the attitude and perception towards HIV. The game is called "Pamoja Mtaani" ("Together in the Hood") and will be launched in youth centers in Kenya.
WBIE's description of "Pamoja Mtaanii":
"Pamoja Mtaani", developed by noted game developer, Virtual Heroes, Inc., follows five strangers who are brought together through unforeseen circumstances, losing what is most precious to each of them. Working their way through various East African neighborhoods, players must recover the stolen items and help an injured woman on their quest. Along the way, they will experience barriers and facilitators to behavior change through a variety of missions and mini-games."
"Pamoja Mtaani" is part of the Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation, a public-private partnership that is part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Trip down memory lane: Pure Pwnage |
Posted by:Darky on Dec 06th, 2008, 20:41:16
I just took a trip down memory lane on YouTube and could not resist looking up the original Pure Pwnage preview. It is two minutes of pure gold command and conquer comedy.
A little known fact is that CNCreplays.com (one of the father sites to GameReplays.org) was the first site in the world to host this preview. My conversation with Jarret went something like...
"Hey Darky, can you host these big arse files?"
"Hmmmm - maybe, let me watch them first, what is this 'pure ownage' thing anyway?"
"Oh - it's just a bit of fun, we will only make 3 episodes in total, this is a simple preview..."
I had no idea what Jarret was talking about, after all Pure Pwnage did not exist. However I agreed to watch them and after about 10 seconds I knew we would be hosting them.
[youtube]YE2gX2fXpm0[/youtube]
18 episodes later Pure Pwnage is still going strong and now also has a great Noob Store for a massive selection of Pure Pwnage apparel (and much more...)
Classic.
Replaysystem Update For 25 November, 2008 |
Once again we've updated the replay system with a minor update, this time to the new leaderboard that was added a couple of weeks ago. The change list is as follows:- You can now search for a player's name in the leaderboard (highlighted in green)
- If a member is logged in and are in the leaderboard, their name is automatically highlighted in blue
- Added a "total wubs" column which shows how many total wubs a member has received
- Columns can now be sorted up or down, allowing you to see who has the most replays, or the most wubs, rather than simply who has the most points
- Added a basic statistics footer that shows how many players have uploaded how many replays in the given time period. It also shows how the score is calculated.
- Increased the number of replays displayed per page from 20 to 30 (this is not related to the leaderboard)
Many thanks to Sebra, Subroutine, Ang3lic, and AgmMaverick for getting this sorted!
As always, if you find any bugs, let us know in our replay system feedback forum!
Championship Gaming Series Closing |
Posted by:Ithildur on Nov 18th, 2008, 22:35:37
It's a sad day in the gaming world as the Championship Gaming Series closes due to financial difficulties. The CGS was a worldwide gaming league primarily for Counter Strike Source, backed by large sponsors such as Creative, Mountain Dew, and Alienware.
As always, it is a bad day for the gaming community when a piece of it dies off, especially one that was doing so well. In the official words of the CGS:
Today, BSkyB, STAR, and DIRECTV ended their Championship Gaming Series (CGS).
While the concept was ahead of its time and we're extremely proud of what we've accomplished, it became increasingly clear as this ambitious project evolved, that profitability was too far in the future for us to sustain operations in the interim.
Our goal was to be ahead of the curve in the e-sports space, and we conceived of CGS as a true sports league. We invested wholeheartedly in the venture and presented viewers with a top-notch production, but the economics just didn't add up for us at this time.
Our only regret is that we will lose a team of creative and talented individuals who invested their hearts and souls into Champion Gaming Series. We recognize their achievements and thank them for their hard work and passion.
BSkyB, STAR, and DIRECTV continue to be committed to the video games sector, which is an important part of our customers' lives and a great source of entertainment.
Sincerely,
The CGS Team
To visit the CGS website, perhaps for the last time, head on over to http://thecgs.com and pay your respects to this wonderful organization that offered so much to the community.
SteelSeries Releases 15 Button World of Warcraft Gaming Mouse |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Nov 13th, 2008, 03:45:06
SteelSeries and Blizzard Entertainment have designed the very first World of Warcraft gaming mouse. This high-tech mouse has a lot of features, including "advanced macro creation capabilities, 15 programmable buttons, six possible DPI settings and 16 million profile-specific illumination colors."
The mouse is designed to have a look and feel similar to the World of Warcraft interface and features drag-and-drop software so players can easily use their 15 programmable buttons for over 130 in-game commands. All these traits will make it the perfect mouse for one of the most popular games in history. "One of our design philosophies for World of Warcraft has always been to give players a high degree of freedom in customizing their experience," said Paul Sams, COO of Blizzard Entertainment. "The World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse extends that principle by putting a wide range of new control options in players' hands."
SteelSeries has always wanted to provide new concepts to the massively multiplayer online community, especially after their acquisition of Ideazon. "It was a natural next step that we work with Blizzard Entertainment to create new products that help enhance players' World of Warcraft experience," said SteelSeries CEO Bruce Hawver.
This mouse will be available in late Q4 2008 with a price tag of €89,99 and can be pre-ordered now.
Check out the new mouse
World Cyber Games 2008 Grand Final Updates |
Posted by:TDA on Nov 06th, 2008, 14:18:16
[imgf=right]http://www.gamereplays.org/community/uploads/post-16935-1225887945.jpg[/imgf]On November 6th – 9th in Cologne, Germany, gamers from all over the world will convene to compete for pride, and more importantly for a nice pay day, as they do battle in a dozen different games. This is the ninth iteration of the World Cyber Games. It all started in 2000 with four games, 17 countries and $200,000 worth of cash prizes. This year's edition will have players from 80 countries competing for $470,000 worth of cash prizes.
GameReplays.org's own TDA will be in Cologne bringing you all the news and updates. Be sure and check the GameReplays WCG Grand Final page for updates on the 2008 WCG Finals!
GameReplays Launches New Store! |
Have you ever woken up in the morning, looked for something to wear, but had to go streaking because you didn't have anything that said "GameReplays" on it? Well in the interest of public safety, we've finally decided to open a store!
There are currently a number of different t-shirts and a couple of hoodies available, as well as mouse pads and a couple of wall clocks. We'll be adding more and more products as we design them, but be sure to do a little window shopping (and maybe some actual shopping) to see what we've got available.
Everything is made by CafePress, who will handle all the shipping to anywhere in the world. Note that you may have to pay a small import tax depending on where you live. Orders may take some time to deliver since they are all custom made on demand.
In addition, the store gives you a sneak peak at the new site design that we'll be rolling out in pieces over the next few months. It will be cleaner, faster, lighter, and less drab looking.
If anyone has any ideas for designs, or wants to help us out, then please post your ideas or designs in our store feedback topic. We're always looking for good ideas, particularly clever/funny ideas, such as the tounge-in-cheek "PRO" shirt and hoodie we have.
So be sure to check out the store and buy something!
Minor Replay System Update |
We've added a small but useful feature to the replay search today. Now you're able to save your custom search settings for one-click access later on. So for example, lets say you want to search for a particular matchup on a particular map, you'll be able to save those settings in a list of custom searches, rather than having to input the search options again.
As usual let, us know if there are any bugs. We do know that the title field is a little short, it will be expanded in another update.
Minor Replay System Update |
Why is this news system so buggy 
Red Alert 3 Ships and Gamereplays is recruiting Red Alert 3 Staff! |
Posted by:Echo on Oct 28th, 2008, 18:25:52
Two very important events are occurring for the Red Alert 3 Section at this very moment. First, Red Alert 3 has officially shipped and is now headed for store shelves all across the world.
Electronic Arts Los Angeles' newest title, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, ships today in North America and many other countries (the official European release date is the 30th). You can either buy a normal edition for $50 USD (price varies per country), or buy the Premier Edition, which comes with the game's soundtrack, a beta key for a future game from EA, a metal case, an exclusive in-game item for the MMORPG Warhammer Online, and more. The Premier Edition is $65 in the United States.
Make sure you read our entire newspost!
Second, Gamereplays.org is now looking for Red Alert 3 staff members to help make content and keep this great site running.
The GameReplays.org Red Alert 3 Staff is currently looking for Strategy Specialists, Gamecasters, and Writers! Joining the Red Alert 3 staff grants you access to staff forums, is a good way to get to know people from all over the world, and most importantly to help give back to the Red Alert 3 community.
If you are interested check out the rest of the newspost including the requirements and who to contact.
Replay Search Is Now Available! |
It took a while, but we've finally released a basic search engine for the GameReplays Replaysystem.
The search features the ability to perform a quick search on each list of replays, or go to a centralized "Advanced Search" page which will search all replays with the given specifications.
Replay search is here, please visit your respective replay section and click on "Search" in the replay navigation bar
The advanced search gives you the ability to search by any single parameter. You don't need to specify any search text if you don't want to, allowing you to search just 1v1, 2v2, or specific matchups, or any combination of the options.
Update - 23 October, 2008
- Added a reset button to the search form to make it easy to clear your results
- Search results will now be cleared when navigating away from the index you're on, unless it's moving between the popular and member replay tabs.
- "Any event" is now the default, making it more convenient to get accurate results
Remaining bugs/limitations
- If you search for, say, GDI vs Nod and then Nod vs GDI, you will get different results. May not happen with every game section.
- Faction/matchup search only works with the 1v1 matchup type. It will work if 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 is selected, but it will of course only search for one faction per team, rather than given the option to specify a faction for every team slot.
If you see any other bugs, please report them in our replay system feedback and bug reports forum.
This year’s E3 Media and Business Summit was a disappointingly subdued affair by all accounts. Its ‘invite-only’ policy rendered it a significant departure from the packed-to-the-rafters fan-fest that it was in years past. Gone were the pungent odors of fanboy perspiration and the invigorating sights of scantily clad booth babes, leaving only a small group of officials and journalists to gawk at the industry’s finest.
Overwhelmed with criticism from a wide array of sources, the Entertainment Software Association (the show’s host) has been tasked with the revitalization of E3. Most have called for a healthy compromise between the lawn bowls tournament of 2008 and the frenzied mosh-pit of 2005, with critics also demanding a show-date that is friendlier to publisher announcement schedules.
The ESA’s silence on the matter was broken yesterday by an exclusive scoop from enthusiast website GoNintendo, which claims that an upcoming episode of the popular show X-Play has revealed a slew of juicy details regarding 2009’s E3: - E3 will now be ‘technically’ open to the public, via ticket sales
- Attendance will be capped at 40,000
- A “broader range of industry guests” will be present
- The show has been dated for June 2-4
- It will be held at the LA Convention Center (LACC)
Whilst information pertaining to booth babes was notably absent, this news does seem to indicate that the ESA’s baby is making a return to form. We can only hope that X-Play is able to confirm the above as truth. Stay tuned for further details.
Extra Life - Play Games, Heal Kids |
Hardened gamers that you are, I’m sure that the notion of a 24-hour bout-of-button-mashing is not so much a feat as it is a frequent indulgence to you. That being the case, Sarcastic Gamer’s ‘Extra Life’ charity event seems the perfect opportunity for you to aid in the struggle against pediatric cancer, as all it demands of you is a solid day’s engagement in your favorite activity – gaming.
“On Saturday October 18th, 2008 gamers from around the world will come together for 24 hours to raise money and awareness for the cause of pediatric cancer. Cancer is the number one cause of non-accidental death in children. Together, we’re going to stand with the families from around the world who come to Texas Children’s Cancer Center in Houston, Texas for lifesaving treatment. Texas Children’s Cancer Center serves kids worldwide regardless of their family’s ability to pay. This generous philosophy means that your support is crucial to ensuring not only the development of new cutting edge cures, but also to provide care to kids from all corners of the globe.” [Sarcastic Gamer]
So rally your sponsors, controllers and plentiful supplies of snack food as you prepare to sally forth into the depths of your chosen game for the good of those who are in grave need.
Wrath of the Lich King Dated |
Blizzard Entertainment is known for being particularly tight-lipped when it comes to release dates, touting their famed ‘when it’s ready’ response to all queries regarding the launch of their highly anticipated products.
In that light, it would appear that Wrath of the Lich King is ready (or very close to it), as Blizzard has just announced that this second expansion to their thriving World of Warcraft franchise will hit shelves on the 13th of November in North America and Europe and the 14th in Australia and New Zealand.
Wrath of the Lich King will grant players access to the ice-covered continent of Northrend and all of the exciting content therein. Additional features include an extended level cap, an Xbox-style achievement system as well as the very first ‘hero-class’- the ‘Death-Knight’. Moreover, devout fans will be able to get their hands on the collector's edition of the game for exclusive access to the following goodies:- The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
- An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
- A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director’s commentary, and more.
- The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
- A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
- Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion™ starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector’s Edition.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Announced! |
This game aroused your deepest fears. It showed you what it is to truly play a horror shooting. With Alma's hatred fueling her to destroy everyone in her reach, no one could destroy the monster that had been created into a child girl. After losing her mind to hatred, she was hidden in a vault all alone and asleep physically. Her psychological powers were still alive, the powers she used to control Fettel, the commander of an elite force of super soldiers. After havoc was wreaked, he was finally cut off from Alma and saved. Now...she is back and worse than ever. With her hatred increasing over the years, she now threatens to destroy reality as a whole and change it into her own. She is back, the monster is finally back.
F.E.A.R. Project Origin is the name given to the sequel, a perfect fit seeing it was the name given to the project of the horrific experiment on Hale's daughter led by Hale himself. Now, the world will face the consequences. Monolith Productions, who were first making the game an unofficial sequel called Project Origin, now have the right to use the name F.E.A.R. So it is now called F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. The story continues on from right where they dropped off. It is meant to be F.E.A.R. brought up ten notches. Revolutionary graphics and more...released on February 10th, 2009
The game is an excellent sequel, and won't disappoint. Everyone should stay updated and ready to buy it when it comes out. An excellent horror game and something great to play! The game people wait years for is here, so don't miss it!
Activision Acquires FreeStyleGames |
Activision has now acquired another gaming developer. FreeStyleGames, which is best known for its dancing game B-Boy released on the PSP and PS2. The developer is now a part of Activision as an Independent Studio, meaning it's allowed to keep its name and identity while also having the resources of the colossal and successful company of Activision Blizzard. As of now, the small and budding company of FreeStyleGaming has started working on some local downloadable content for Guitar Hero. Not to mention, they are working on their own new music game.
With this new addition, Activision is working on its title as the “Leader of Music Based Gaming”. The company itself has announced its views on its new goals and aspirations here, “Activision Publishing is the undisputed leader in the music-based games, and we see tremendous opportunity for continued growth, particularly in Europe," Activision Publishing president and CEO Mike Griffith said in a statement. "An important part of our European growth strategy is to work with local developers and provide music content that resonates with the market."
There's the United States, Europe and then the great Australia. All of them like their own types of games, and info has been let out on what games the Aussies love to buy. They have fallen in love with their Wii. The Wii Fit has been able to take down all other competition. Spore came in second, but even with all the hype it could not topple the forever withstanding Wii Fit. The virtual way to excersise your body, and one of the most entertaining features of the Wii.
As mentioned before, Spore came in second. Being one of the only PC games that came into the top ten most bought games in Australia. It has been shown as a very unique and fairly fun game to play. It is something you don't play every day, so it has fought itself to the top two of Australia dropping the Wii Bundle to third place. With the Wii dominating the ladder. Next came The Sims 2: Apartment Life, one of the rare games on this list that are not owned by Nintendo. Finally, the last two on this list continue the trend of Nintendo games. Coming in 9th and 10th, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain, and Guitar Hero 3 to finish this excellent list.
This chart has been fairly decent, with a very good source from which this came from.
Australia Gaming Chart for the week September 1st to September 7th.
There's the United States, Europe and then the great Australia. All of them like their own types of games, and info has been let out on what games the Aussies love to buy. They have fallen in love with their Wii. The Wii Fit has been able to take down all other competition. Spore came in second, but even with all the hype it could not topple the forever withstanding Wii Fit. The virtual way to excersise your body, and one of the most entertaining features of the Wii.
As mentioned before, Spore came in second. Being one of the only PC games that came into the top ten most bought games in Australia. It has been shown as a very unique and fairly fun game to play. It is something you don't play every day, so it has fought itself to the top two of Australia dropping the Wii Bundle to third place. With the Wii dominating the ladder. Next came The Sims 2: Apartment Life, one of the rare games on this list that are not owned by Nintendo. Finally, the last two on this list continue the trend of Nintendo games. Coming in 9th and 10th, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain, and Guitar Hero 3 to finish this excellent list.
This chart has been fairly decent, with a very good source from which this came from. Australia Gaming Chart for the week September 1st to September 7th.
Microsoft to Dissolve Ensemble Studios |
Acclaimed developer of the long-running Age of Empires Franchise, Ensemble Studios, will be dissolved following the release of its up-coming RTS project: Halo Wars. Microsoft has officially stated that their decision to disband Ensemble was financially motivated and that the team’s members will continue development under the banner of its wholly owned subsidiary brand, Microsoft Game Studios.
“The team at Ensemble has made invaluable contributions to the games industry with their Age of Empires and Age of Mythology games and with the highly anticipated release of Halo Wars. This decision does not reflect at all on Ensemble's talent or the quality of Halo Wars. in fact, many people who have had a chance to test drive Halo Wars agree that it is on track to being a fantastic game”, said a Microsoft representative.
Fans of the Age of Empires series needn’t lose too much sleep tonight, as Microsoft’s VP of interactive entertainment, Shane Kim, has confirmed that the venerable franchise will continue to be built upon in the foreseeable future. “Microsoft continues to own Age of Empires. It is not losing Age of Empires itself. We’re still super excited for the potential for the franchise. The Windows gaming world continues to evolve, and we believe in the future of that property”, explained Kim, in an interview with Edge.
Halo Wars, a spin-off of the popular Xbox-based Halo franchise is currently slated for an early 2009 release, giving Ensemble at least 3 months before its closure is enacted.
Entire id Software Library for $34.99 |
Those with a penchant for classic FPS gaming will undoubtedly be pleased to hear that every title in the iconic id Software's portfolio is currently available for download on Steam for half price.
If the above didn't quite leap off the page at you as ferocious bargains are wont to do, perhaps the following will: Customers are now able to purchase every title developed by id Software for the insanely low price of $34.99!
Steam's 'id Super Pack' includes the following titles:- Commander Keen
- DOOM 3
- DOOM 3 Resurrection of Evil
- DOOM II
- Final DOOM
- HeXen
- HeXen II
- HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
- Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
- Master Levels for Doom II
- QUAKE
- QUAKE II
- QUAKE II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
- QUAKE II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
- QUAKE III: Team Arena
- QUAKE Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon
- QUAKE Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity
- Quake III Arena
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein
- Spear of Destiny
- Ultimate DOOM
- Wolfenstein 3D
If this deal tickles your fancy then you'd be wise to hasten to Steam's checkout, as the discount only applies this weekend, after which the package will revert to its standard price of $69.99.
GameReplays Recruiting Writers |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Sep 03rd, 2008, 17:20:06
Gamereplays.org is currently recruiting writing staff for all sections!
Writers are responsible for finding news related to the game they work for, posting them up for revision, and then posting them on the portals, by way of what we call a newspost, a 100-300 word summary/overview of a piece of news. Becoming a Writer is a great way to improve your reporting and writing skills. You may even get the opportunity to interview video game developers or the player who keeps ahead of everyone on the ladder!
You can improve your English and writing abilities while having a fun, pleasant, and rewarding experience on one of the rising RTS community/media sites of today. Please only apply if you want to actually contribute to Gamereplays and have the time to do so! Any questions about the position may be sent to the application link.
If you've got the time, skill, and motivation, please send a PM with a newspost/article containing 300 words so we can determine if you've got what you need to be on staff.
We hope to see you on staff!
Applications can be sent here
Google To Join The Browser War |
American search engine pioneer Google, Inc. has announced plans to launch an open source web browser by the name of ‘Google Chrome’, following the premature release of a webcomic detailing the company’s intentions.
“We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build” said Google’s Vice President of Product Management, Sundar Pichai.
On the surface, Chrome will purportedly be a relatively simple application, however, Pichai promises that ‘under the hood’, Google’s new browser will boast the capacity to run modern web applications with a great deal of efficiency. Specifically, Google has endured great pains to ensure that each browser tab is isolated from the others, thereby decreasing the chance of multi-tab crashes. Moreover, the product supports a new JavaScript engine to “power the next generation of web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.”
Whilst Chrome will inevitably come into competition with the giants of contemporary web browsing, Firefox and Internet Explorer, Google’s webcomic rather sportingly acknowledges their debt to “other open source browser projects - - Especially, Mozilla and Webkit". To that end, Google will be making their code completely open source, in a bid to "collaberate with the entire community to help drive the web forward"
The Google Chrome beta is expected to release in over 100 countries tomorrow. Be sure to check out Pichai's blog for updates regarding Chrome and the beta.
GameReplays Survey: We Want Your Feedback! |
We want your feedback about the GameReplays replay reviewing system so that we can take it into account when developing future modifications.
Survey has reached response limit and is now closed
Patrick Redding Opens His Mouth, Out Spills Far Cry 3 |
Ubisoft Montreal’s Patrick Redding has publicly confirmed the existence of a third installment in the Far Cry franchise, revealing that the title is currently in the ‘preliminary stages’ of development. Redding also hinted that future iterations in the series would more than likely be set in the same environment as the upcoming Far Cry 2, when he told VG247 that his team had developed a “commitment to the African setting”.
“There are still things we want to do with the African setting, and I think it’s safe to say we’ll continue to explore it...” Redding explained. He did stress, however, that this doesn’t necessarily indicate that Ubisoft is intentionally stifling the environmental diversity of the franchise, claiming that the game could very well be set in the forests of South America or upon the ice plains of Antarctica.“But honestly, we’re still at the preliminary stages...” he said.
Far Cry 2 was unveiled in early 2007 and is set to release in fall this year. Players can expect to traipse around a fictional African nation embroiled in civil-war, as they hunt for and attempt to assassinate an elusive arms-dealer known as ‘The Jackal’. A key selling point for the title has been its lack of linearity, with players afforded complete control over the game’s direction and progression.
 Far Cry 2 at its hottest
Amazon Announces Release-Date-Delivery Service |
Online retailer Amazon.com has announced plans to enable enthusiastic customers to have their games delivered to them on the date of release. Previously, gamers who opted to purchase titles online were often forced to endure several torturous days of waiting, as their bubble-wrapped packages winged their way to the appropriate doorstep.
Now, one merely has to upgrade their shipping deal to ‘release-date-delivery’ at Amazon’s checkout and pay a fee of $5.98, to ensure that they are playing the latest games at the same time as all of those brave-souls who dare to journey beyond the front door and into the depths of the closest retail outlet. Amazon Prime customers will be additionally pleased to learn that this new service will be made available to them for no additional cost whatsoever.
The convenience boasted by Amazon’s new service is somewhat offset by the fact that it doesn’t cover the releases of all upcoming video games. Currently, users are only able to take advantage of the offer with Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. If Amazon hopes to sell subscriptions with this initiative, they should seriously consider broadening the portfolio of supported titles.
AMD Reveals Collaboration With EA & SEGA |
Reputed developer of computer processing technologies, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), today announced that it is currently working with both Electronic Arts and SEGA in an effort to enhance the visual quality of upcoming games via the power of DirectX 10.1. EA Phenomic’s upcoming card-based RTS Battleforge will benefit from this collaboration, as will SEGA’s post-apocalyptic strategy title Stormrise.
“We’re working hard to deliver a new fantasy RTS experience never seen before. Using DirectX 10.1 and AMD’s graphics technology will enable Battleforge to look its absolute best” said Dirk Ringe, Vice President of EA Phenomic.
Likewise, SEGA appeared quite pleased with the partnership, with European representative Chris Southall stating that “SEGA is delighted to team up with AMD on one of our forthcoming games. AMD’s firm commitment to cutting-edge technology makes them a natural partner for us on Stormrise.”.
Since its release, AMD has held somewhat of a monopoly on DirectX 10.1 technology, with its ATI Radeon HD 3000 & 4000 series being the only GPUs that take advantage of all of the features boasted by the incremental upgrade. Recently, the company released a tech demo to showcase the advantages 10.1 proffered over older versions of the software which can be viewed here.
NPD Reports On Platform Gaming – PC Leads |
Posted by:Grimulus on Aug 16th, 2008, 10:06:30
Despite common belief, the PC gaming is still going strong. According to the NPD, the PC is the leading platform among gamers. The report gives several categories in which to place certain types of gamers, from extreme to casual and everything in between.
Using information gathered back in January and February, the report separated the North American game-playing populace into the following seven categories, totaling 174 million gamers:- Young Heavy Gamers: 22%
- Seconday Gamers: 20%
- Console Games: 17%
- Offline PC Gamers: 15%
- Online PC Gamers: 14%
- Avid PC Gamers: 9%
- Extreme Gamers: 3%
The segments are categorized by usage, ownership and frequency numbers, though the specifics definitions were not provided.
The NPD wanted to make it clear that “Console Gamers, Young Heavy Gamers and Extreme Gamers” generally chose the console as their platform of choice.
Other facts from the report:- PS3 owners most likely to have multiple consoles
- Only 10% of PS2 owners have a PS3
- 45% of PSP owners have a DS but only 21% of DS owners have a PSP
- 14% of games purchased between November 2007 and January 2008 were digital downloads.
Details on the methodology of the study:
The data was collected from more than 20,000 members of NPD's online consumer panel, ages two to 65+. Responses for consumers ages six to 12 were captured by instructing a parent to take his or her child in this age range to the computer to answer the questions, either with or without the parent's assistance. Qualified respondents reported they personally play video games on a PC, on a console or portable system, or on another device such as a mobile phone. The following four key variables were used to create the gamer segments: ownership; usage; frequency; and purchased/received video games. Final survey data was weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals ages 2 and older. Fieldwork was conducted from January 11-February 5, 2008.
Note: This study was conducted in January, meaning that questions that refer to consumer behavior in the past three months include the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays.
Crysis Warhead to Ship Sept. 16 |
Posted by:Thrandy on Aug 13th, 2008, 22:33:45
When Crysis Warhead was first announced by Crytek developers in early June as the first sequel in the Crysis series, there was some speculation as to whether it was truly a 'sequel' or 'expansion'. Planned to be included in the package is Crysis Wars, which is the multiplayer component of the game. It will have 21 maps, bringing 7 new ones and all the original Crysis ones, multiple multiplayer gameplay improvements, a new game mode, and, according to EA, a dedicated support team to meet the needs of the community.
Furthermore, the Warhead campaign is seemingly not an actual continuation of the Crysis story, but rather a parallel plot on the other side of the island. Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes' secret mission will "take him to the other side of the island on a ruthless pursuit of a North Korean general hell-bent on obtaining powerful technology."
Nonetheless, EA has just stated that Warhead will ship on September 16 to United States retailers and on September 12 in European nations.
Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli explains, "We designed Warhead to be more accessible for gamers new to the Crysis franchise. It is a game with a story that can stand on its own, it has been optimized to run better on a wider range of PCs, and we are introducing Crysis Wars, a tailor-made experience for multiplayer gamers within the Crysis universe--all at a great value." Certainly--the standalone game is set to be priced at $29.95.
EA: Blessing, or Curse? Possible buyout of Valve |
Recently an article was published titled " EA Games: Blessing, or curse? A look at a possible EA buyout of VALVE" and is available in the main portal under features.
It is no secret that Electronic Arts (EA) is one of the world’s largest third party publishers, ranking 8th on the list of largest software companies in the world with a net annual revenue of US $4.02 billion in the fiscal year 2008.
However it was not all success for EA Games, which had its fair share of failure both with its closing down of acquired developer studios and with the gaming community’s general loss of confidence in EA’s ability to develop quality games.
If you have not read the article, be sure you do and if you have an opinion or comment be sure to join the mess hall discussion topic.
Far Cry 2 Specifications Issued |
The minimum, high and recommended system requirements for Far Cry 2's PC edition are now out. Issued by publisher Ubisoft, the open-world shooter will also be available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this fall.
High Requirements:- CPU: E6600 Core 2 Duo
- Graphics: Nvidia 8800GTS
- RAM: 2GB
- Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
- Optical Drive: DVD Drive
Minimum Requirements:- CPU: Athlon 64 3000+/Intel 2.8ghz
- Graphics: Nvidia 6600 or ATI X1600 - Shader Model 2.0
- RAM: 1GB
- Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
- Optical Drive: DVD Drive
Recommended Requirements:- CPU: Dual-Core CPU (Athlon X2 / Pentium D / Core 2 Duo)
- Graphics: Nvidia 7800GT or ATI X1800XL Pro (SM 3.0)
- RAM: 2GB+
- Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
- Optical Drive: DVD Drive
Read More:
FarCry Files
Diablo III Art Director Resigns, Blizzard Comments |
Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Diablo III art director Brian Morrisroe has resigned to establish his own company “outside the game industry”, following the confusion incited by the developer’s recently posted job advert for the position.
“That change won't impact the game...we're really pleased with the look and feel that Brian helped create for Diablo III, and the new person we bring aboard will work with other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward..” said a Blizzard representative in response to an inquiry made by video game blog Kotaku.
The reasons alleged for Brian’s resignation in concert with Blizzard’s admission of satisfaction with the ‘look and feel that Brian helped create’ for the game, suggests that the former director’s departure has absolutely no correlation with the post-announcement turbulence that permeated the fanbase regarding the title’s art-style.
Diablo III was unveiled in late June at Blizzard’s ‘Worldwide Invitational’ event in Paris, only to be decried by a slew of indignant fans who believed that the new art direction was uncharacteristic of the dark world that the game’s predecessors had established. This angry-mob proceeded to create an online petition demanding a ‘renewed artistic direction for Diablo III’, which has accrued the signatures of over 50,000 advocates to date. Specifically, the petition calls for ‘slightly less colorful and less vivid outside scenarios’, to which the game’s lead designer Jay Wilson responds:
“When you pull all the color out of the environment and you make it too homogeneous across the game, essentially what you’re doing is you’re pulling away the player’s reward of feeling like they’ve progressed because the area they’re in now looks like the area they were in 30 to 45 minutes ago. So that’s one of the reasons why we really felt we had to do this. We had to move to an art style that had a lot more variety in it and was capable of a lot more.” [Link]
 The Colourful and Fruity World of Diablo III
With Morrisroe having moved onto other endeavours, Blizzard is currently on the look-out for a “a talented, motivated, and experienced art director to lead the Diablo III art team”. Given the prestige inherent with holding a senior position on the Blizzard development team, one can only wonder what sort of talent the company’s job advertisement will attract.
Rockstar Confirms GTA IV for PC |
Rockstar has officially confirmed their plans to port the incredibly successful Grand Theft Auto IV to the PC platform this November, with the game releasing in North America and Europe/Australia on the 18th and 21st respectively.
Speculations regarding the game’s much sought PC-debut escalated recently, following a slip-up by the ESRB in which GTAIV was listed under the ‘Windows PC’ category, betraying the game’s impending release.
This latest iteration in a series of open-world action games casts you in the role of the immigrant Niko Belic, whose apparent goal is to establish himself in 'Liberty City' through participation in an array of felonious activities.
The console version hit shelves earlier this year and has been the recipient of many a glowing review, not to mention the enormous sales figures its release produced, with 3.6 million copies purchased on the game’s first day of availability.
WeGame Bumps Video Limit To 20 Minutes, Supports RA3 |
WeGame is a new social video sharing site that caters specifically to gamers. Today, the site added support for Red Alert 3, and dramatically increased their limit on video length to 20 minutes, up from 10 minutes prior to today. By comparison, YouTube only allows for 10 minute videos.
In addition to offering easy video uploading, they provide their own video recording software which is compatible with a number of games (including CoD4, DoW, C&C 3, and SupCom), with support for new ones being added all the time. The software is totally free (that's right people, no need to shell out dinero for a legit copy of FRAPS or other video recording software), and allows you to instantly upload the videos from the recording client, to your account on the website.
If you've ever been interested in recording your own videos of games, or amazing moments in replays, WeGame's free recording client and new 20 minute limit is the best bet for doing so.
Also, be sure to join the GameReplays WeGame group and add your videos to it!
Blizzard to Add Achievements to Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 |
Posted by:Grimulus on Aug 06th, 2008, 01:09:30
Blizzard’s newly announced achievement system is going further than World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. The company plans to add achievements to Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 with an account based system much like Xbox Live to make the achievements viewable to other players.
Jeff Kaplan, World of Warcraft’s lead designer, revealed much of how the system will work and explained the “Blizzard level” that each account will have.
“When the new Blizzard Accounts are active, a player’s ‘WoW’ points can be added to an overall score dubbed an account holder’s ‘Blizzard Level.’ ‘It’s basically a gamerscore’ ... ‘For now the points are just a ‘WoW’ character score. As we graduate to that Blizzard Account system, which is right on the horizon, it will switch over to a Blizzard Level.”
Kaplan also stated the point system in World of Warcraft will be just one factor that will affect a player’s Blizzard Level. Blizzard wants the player to be able to view another player’s skill level in Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, or World of Warcraft.
“You’ll have this Blizzard identity, and you’ll be able to see things like ‘Oh, this guy was great at Diablo III, but he never played Starcraft and he was mediocre in WoW.”
Presently the achievements are character specific, but Kaplan hopes to add account-level achievements as well. One he mentioned, for example, is having a character of maximum level on both the Horde and Alliance side. Also, the account-level achievements will included ones dealing with professions and classes.
The new achievement system will be implemented upon the launch of the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.
Fact or Fiction: GTA IV to be released on PC |
No game series has received as much controversial reviews as the Grand Theft Auto series; it has been celebrated and loved by gamers across the globe while on the other hand being despised and demonized by public officials around the world. Politicians deem the game as horrendous while highly respected professors find redeeming value in the game in its open-ended nature and how the game explores the “notion of choice and consequence”.
The franchise first shot to success in 1997/1998 with the release of Grand Theft Auto, the first title in the GTA series initially on Windows PC then on the Sony Play Station. The series was then followed by GTA II, GTAIII, and GTA: Vice City followed by GTA San Andreas. The sequels after the first started to be released on the Playstation and other game consoles, subsequently being followed by a Windows PC release. With that knowledge in mind it makes sense for Rockstar to soon release GTA IV on PC. However they have been very discrete and confidential about the speculated release, having neither approved nor denied the notion of a PC release.
Lately, speculations have become heightened on the possible release of GTA IV on PC, with the rumors initially being sparked by the PC Gamer magazine out of Malaysia which has confirmed a PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV. However they released no specific details and there are doubts of the authenticity of the magazine cover itself.
Moreover, a Swiss website presented the Grand Theft Auto IV PC version DVD case, together with a price and release date. According to the website, the PC version of Rockstar's title will be made available starting the 30th of November this year. What should normally be further proof of a PC version is in the works is the fact that a pre-order is available, however Rockstar have made no official response.
The console versions of the game, however, received great reviews from game critiques around the world with Gamespot giving the game a 10/10; a one of a kind occurrence and achievment for a console game. A confirmation of release of GTAIV on the PC wont be the end of it, as the game comes with heavy luggage, specifically its need for super-high requirements on the PC for its graphics and gameplay to be able to match the already existing one on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
One thing is for sure, though: the moment we have a definite confirmation from Rockstar Games on a PC release, you will first read of it here on Gamereplays.org. For more information on GTA IV on the PS3 and Xbox 360 visit our forums and join the discussion.
UK Games to be rated like Films? |
Games are in the news again! As we've all come to understand over the years, if a game appears on anything other than the entertainment channels, it's usually a bad thing. The words 'report' and 'government-backed' rarely promise much beyond a lot of angry people shouting about bad influences and shaking copies of Manhunt. Various UK news channels gave reports on the rise of violent crime, particularly among younger groups, and made a connection to the popularity and influence of violent games. Regardless of who agrees or disagrees with these sentiments, it cannot be argued that such coverage is very, very predictable. What was a surprise, however, was that in this report, which was compiled by Dr. Tanya Byron, it was not suggested that such games be banned or prohibited. Instead, it is the responsibility of the government and gaming industry to ensure that games are rated properly, and clearly convey the intended age groups. In order to do this, she has recommended that games be classified using the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) which is the same system used to rate films (seen below):
Such a system is already seen on certain games, particularly those with an '18' certificate, but it's the lack of it being adopted industry-wide that is apparently causing confusion. This, coupled with greater authority given to vendors is intended to keep unsuitable games away from its unintended audience. How effective this would be is questionable. It assumes the parent buying the game is responsible and that the clearer ratings would satisfy aggressive opponents of mature games; two very big assumptions. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see that game-related controversy has been answered by targeting ratings and the environment in which games are sold, rather than the games themselves. - Read the full report on the Byron Review here.
UK Games to be rated like Films? |
Games are in the news again! As we've all come to understand over the years, if a game appears on anything other than the entertainment channels, it's usually a bad thing. The words 'report' and 'government-backed' rarely promise much beyond a lot of angry people shouting about bad influences and shaking copies of Manhunt. Various UK news channels gave reports on the rise of violent crime, particularly among younger groups, and made a connection to the popularity and influence of violent games. Regardless of who agrees or disagrees with these sentiments, it cannot be argued that such coverage is very, very predictable. What was a surprise, however, was that in this report, which was compiled by Dr. Tanya Byron, it was not suggested that such games be banned or prohibited. Instead, it is the responsibility of the government and gaming industry to ensure that games are rated properly, and clearly convey the intended age groups. In order to do this, she has recommended that games be classified using the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) which is the same system used to rate films (seen below):
Such a system is already seen on certain games, particularly those with an '18' certificate, but it's the lack of it being adopted industry-wide that is apparently causing confusion. This, coupled with greater authority given to vendors is intended to keep unsuitable games away from its unintended audience. How effective this would be is questionable. It assumes the parent buying the game is responsible and that the clearer ratings would satisfy aggressive opponents of mature games; two very big assumptions. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see that game-related controversy has been answered by targeting ratings and the environment in which games are sold, rather than the games themselves.
- Read the full report on the Byron Review here.
UK Games to be rated like Films? |
Games are in the news again! As we've all come to understand over the years, if a game appears on anything other than the entertainment channels, it's usually a bad thing. The words 'report' and 'government-backed' rarely promise much beyond a lot of angry people shouting about bad influences and shaking copies of Manhunt. Various UK news channels gave reports on the rise of violent crime, particularly among younger groups, and made a connection to the popularity and influence of violent games. Regardless of who agrees or disagrees with these sentiments, it cannot be argued that such coverage is very, very predictable. What was a surprise, however, was that in this report, which was compiled by Dr. Tanya Byron, it was not suggested that such games be banned or prohibited. Instead, it is the responsibility of the government and gaming industry to ensure that games are rated properly, and clearly convey the intended age groups. In order to do this, she has recommended that games be classified using the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) which is the same system used to rate films (seen below):
Such a system is already seen on certain games, particularly those with an '18' certificate, but it's the lack of it being adopted industry-wide that is apparently causing confusion. This, coupled with greater authority given to vendors is intended to keep unsuitable games away from its unintended audience. How effective this would be is questionable. It assumes the parent buying the game is responsible and that the clearer ratings would satisfy aggressive opponents of mature games; two very big assumptions. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see that game-related controversy has been answered by targeting ratings and the environment in which games are sold, rather than the games themselves.
- Read the full report on the Byron Review here.
Savage 2 - $9.99 on Steam this weekend, $6500 tournament |
If you haven't heard of Savage 2, you're not alone. This RTS/FPS hybrid has gone largely unnoticed by the gamer population. Despite this, S2 Games is hosting a $6500 tournament series and is continuing to update the game with new features, graphical enhancements and, of course, balance patches. In addition, this weekend only, S2 games is selling Savage 2 on Steam for $9.99 ($20 cheaper than its normal price of $29.99).
Note that the screenshots in this newspost are showing off the new engine features which are scheduled to be patched in next week.
A builder protects his allies with a shield generator.
Savage 2 melds the gameplay of RTS and FPS games, with a slight touch of RPG. The units and classes mesh in such a way that teamwork is essential. Sounds like a great clan game, right? S2 apparently thinks so, and has put down $6500 for a clan based tournament series. The first two tournaments in this series kick off September 13th, with a signup deadline of August 30th. For more details on these cash tournaments, and the others that lead up to the grand finals, visit http://tournaments.savage2clans.com for more information.
A maliken unit starts up an electrical storm, slaying many enemy Hunters
The savage 2 engine is also being maintained and improved by a full time staff. S2 games has proven that they are serious about the post-release support of Savage 2 with the release of two "Free Content Patches" so far that added new units, maps, and community requested features. Along with these improvements, Savage 2 is scheduled to receive a graphical upgrade next week with bloom and refraction support being added to the engine.
If your taste buds for Savage 2 have been wet, you can check out the free time-sensitive trial at http://www.s2games.com. If the e-sports appeal and promising post-release support interest you, be sure to check out the promotion this weekend on Steam. This is a great time to get Savage 2 at a really low price.
Dawn of War 2 - Branching From Normality |
Posted by:Grimulus on Jul 31st, 2008, 04:19:16
The Real-Time Strategy genre has changed very little in several years. Relic Entertainment, the developer of the Dawn of War series, is wanting to raise the stakes for strategy games and set Dawn of War 2 apart from the crowd. No developer has ever taken a successful leap of faith when it comes to innovating beyond the typical format of base building and base destroying. The long awaited Warhammer 40k sequel hopes to change that stagnant mindset.
The game is based on micromanaging a small amount of squads with tactical precision as opposed to brute force. Base building has been removed to quicken the action, RPG elements with armor, weapon, and accessories have been implemented, and it will be presented on a revamped version of the Essence engine from the highly acclaimed RTS Company of Heroes. You may want to read AgmLauncher's 'World in Conflict is not an RTS', some of the points can be rationally applied to Dawn of War from the amount that we know.
" Imagine a game that takes Dawn of War, mixes it with Company of Heroes, removes base building altogether and adds RPG elements. If you can paint that puzzling picture in your mind, you'll have Dawn of War 2."
Read the full article at Shacknews.
More game info at the Dawn of War 2 Portal.
Dawn of War 2's developer blog.
Offical website for Dawn of War 2.
IGN recently (well yesterday) got in touch with the lead world designer of Blizzard's upcoming hack 'n' slash title, Leonard Boyarsky. The short discussion consisted of topics such as how important lore would be in Diablo III, as well as giving the game more polish and feel with voice acting for character classes.
One question that interested me was how Leonard would handle 'hardcore vs average players' in this world:
IGN: How much do you have to consider making sure that the world works and it's coherent for the hardcore versus the average player? Are they even going to care about this? How do you factor that in to how you build the world, and introduce the player to the world?
Leonard Boyarsky: I think that's what's really great about – I feel like such a cheerleader – working at Blizzard, because they could have easily put out another Diablo game and very lightly skimmed the surface of these kind of things, and it would have sold very well, but Chris Metzen – he's the creative director of the whole company - is a very big champion of the lore and the story and that stuff, and that is what the really hardcore players care about. [While] a lot of other people don't – and it can't be allowed to impede on the fun of the game… but if we take it into account when we're developing the game, I think it comes across in the feel and the mood.
The full article consisting of the interview, a video and images.
Electronic Arts Prepares for Hollywood Expansion |
Electronic Arts has recently announced a partnership with the large Hollywood literary and talent agency UTA, placing the company in an excellent position to expand its penetration of the entertainment industry into the film sector.
This newly established synergy between EA and UTA will allow for the game-to-film adaptation of a variety of the developer's intellectual properties, a venture that will "bring the richness and storytelling nuance of [their] popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts" says Patrick O'brien, EA Entertainment vice president.
As yet, EA has not publicized their intent to adapt any specific franchise, however the press release does quite openly refer to several IPs such as Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Army of Two and Need for Speed to the exclusion of all others, suggesting the publisher's prioritization of these titles for emergence on the big screen.
This development will additionally serve to add momentum to EA's pre-existing film and television endeavors, which include a film version of their acclaimed Sims franchise, a series centered around the Nintendo exclusive MySims and an animated DVD feature film of the upcoming survival horror game Dead Space, a trailer of which can be viewed below:
[gametrailers]37427[/gametrailers]
Dead Space Animated Feature Trailer
Conversely, Universal Pictures has made clear their intentions to advance into the video game industry following their E3 announcement of Wanted, a game adaption of the film of the same name. This news in tandem with the above seems to indicate that the future of the entertainment industry will be characterised by an increased level of collaberation between film and game developers. However, given the less than illustrious track record of game-to-film adaptations and vice verse, it is apparent that those who decide to lead the charge may not have an easy time assuaging the concerns of wary consumers.
Games for Windows Live is Free |
Posted by:Thrandy on Jul 23rd, 2008, 22:29:13
Microsoft has announced that its Games for Windows Live multiplayer services will now be free to all users. Previously, players could access some of these features via a "Silver" membership, which limited them to a single gamer tag, achievements for singleplayer only, private text and voice chat, and more. However, to buy the full gaming experience meant a $7.99-per month, $49.99-per year "Gold" package. This made all of the Silver features available along with multiplayer achievements, TrueSkill matchmaking and most importantly, cross-platform gameplay.
It was expensive, and rightly so. Many gamers criticized the idea with the same multiplayer elements having used to cost nothing. But have a look at the (needless to say, updated) "About LIVE" page, and things are looking up this side of the fence. It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft's decision will be extended to XBox Live as well, which is still under the annual $50 rule.
Also in the announcement, the PC platform will be receiving a revamped marketplace function identical to XBox Live but with a more "PC-like" interface. Earlier, it was just a copied hand-me-down from the console marketplace version, which was missing some features important to a PC user and felt awkward. Now gamers will be given access to free downloadable content like demos and trailers and the like. PC World spoke with Microsoft Senior Global Director of GFW, Kevin Unangst, in an interview yesterday. - Read on to see what moved Microsoft to make GFW free, whether full downloadable games can be purchased through the new marketplace, and more.
DirectX 11 Details Announced |
Operating System king Microsoft recently unveiled a few pieces of information regarding DirectX 11, the newest in the line of the graphics application programming interface series, DirectX. By far the most used API in the multimedia field.
According to the computer technology giant, a feature known as 'tessellation' will be available to developers. Tessellation, basically blurs the line defining the barrier between in-game rendered scenes (ie tanks) and pre-rendered scenes (ie mountains). This is said to make models more clear, smooth and attractive when significantly zoomed in.
Multi-thread support will also be improved, allowing developers to use multi-core machines more efficiently. It has also been said that 'new computer shadow technology' will be utilised to give the GPU the role of a parallel processor too.
Keeping with the pattern, the API will only be available for people using Vista, and future Windows releases. All DirectX 10 and above hardware will be compatible too. Maybe it's time gamers will have to move up from Windows XP for beautiful graphics? No release date has been officially set or guesstimated.
Crytek Buys Black Sea Studios |
Posted by:Thrandy on Jul 22nd, 2008, 17:44:04
Crytek, widely known for creating the popular First Person Shooters Crysis (awarded best PC Game of E3 2007) and Far Cry, recently announced that it has acquired Bulgaria-based Black Sea Studios Ltd. Black Sea Studios, creator of Knights of Honor and developer of the upcoming WorldShift, will become Crytek Black Sea with the development team remaining in Bulgaria. Crytek states "financial terms were not disclosed."
Crytek Managing Director Avni Yerli says, "We think the acquisition of Black Sea Studios is a great opportunity to continue our strategic growth and expansion. Black Sea Studios already has a very qualified and experienced development team in place and will be continually expanded in capacity to join our tradition of producing highly innovative and creative games which Crytek is known for."
Right now there are no confirmations whether the acquisition will delay the development of WorldShift, announced to be a PC-exclusive title. With Crytek having stated that they'll no longer develop PC-only games after Crysis: Warhead is released this fall, it will be interesting to see what route will be taken with the sci-fi RTS by Crytek Black Sea.
Sony's E3 Press Conference |
Probably what of the most anticipated conferences for E3. Sony graced gamers with some interesting information and general gossip regarding what they've been up to these previous months, a brief rundown of what they released:
God of War 3 CG Trailer Released - Video @ Gametrailers
Playstation 3's Network to expand and keep users updated on aspects of life such as news, weather, sport and so on. TV Episodes as well as films will be up for grabs in High and Standard definition, both with the ultimate choice of rental or complete purchase. A new feature called 'Gran Turismo TV' will be included with the network, allowing users with GT5 to watch programing related to cars.
The Sony Playtation 3 80GB will be the centre of Sony's attention, these will feature the same aspects and functionality as the 40GB Playstation 3 (the question regarding backwards compatibility arises). $399.99 will be the price you will be able to purchase an 80GB PS3 come September.
More information regarding Resistance 2; some already known (8 player co-op) and some not (set in 1953). A gameplay trailer was shown consisting of a huge monster wrecking havoc, picking up the user and throwing him around the place. A release called 'Resistance Retribution' will be coming to the PSP by Spring 2009 - Trailer.
A new 'massive action game' announced, being developed by Zipper Interactive. Featuring Squad Based Combat, 256 (!) players and campaigns based around respective factions. According to the conference it will be online-based and will feature character growth with advancement trees, branches ultimately dictated by the user. Trailer!
GameReplays Recruiting Writers |
Posted by:DarkSanta on Jul 20th, 2008, 11:16:22
Gamereplays.org is currently recruiting writing staff for all sections!
Writers are responsible for finding news related to the game they work for, posting them up for revision, and then posting them on the portals, by way of what we call a newspost, a 100-300 word summary/overview of a piece of news. Becoming a Writer is a great way to improve your reporting and writing skills. You may even get the opportunity to interview video game developers or the player who keeps ahead of everyone on the ladder!
You can improve your English and writing abilities while having a fun, pleasant, and rewarding experience on one of the rising RTS community/media sites of today. Please only apply if you want to actually contribute to Gamereplays and have the time to do so! Any questions about the position may be sent to the application link.
We hope to see you on staff! Please continue to tune in for more information relating to all the latest RTS games from Gamereplays and its writing staff.
Applications can be sent here
Battle for Middle Earth 2 Faction Wars |
Posted by:TDA on Jul 18th, 2008, 17:25:35
The Battle for Middle Earth 2 staff and affiliate sites are very proud to announce the return of last years wildly popular, epic faction based tournament, Faction Wars!! We have been working for over a month to make sure we got it right. We have made some major overhaul's the Faction Wars while still keeping the epic feel of fighting for the honor of your favorite faction still very much alive!! It is now bigger, better and most importantly shorter! We also have some great prizes for the MVP of the BT2DC Professional division. All in all, we the staff strongly feel that we have the makings of a truly epic tournament only fitting for one of the most epic stories of all, Lord of the Rings!
*Disclaimer - This tournament is for the base BFME 2 and its BT2DC patch only.*
Click here to read the full announcement.
Electronic Arts' E3 Press Conference |
With much of EA’s 2008 line-up confirmed pre-E3, it was no secret that their’s was to be one of the largest presentations at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. CEO John Riccitiello emerged upon the stage to announce the different approach his company was to take at this year’s summit, specifically, EA’s presentation was stripped of things such as powerpoints and references to market share, and was instead delivered with a focus upon the developers, the individuals that make the games that ‘make EA’.
The Sims:
Rod Humble, hailing from the Sims Studio was first in line, reflecting upon the notion that the Sims label is ‘entirely dedicated to creating original and unique games for creative people of all ages’. Subsequently, Humble began discussing a new addition to the franchise – Sim Animals, a title that will afford you creative control over animals and their respective environments. The displayed trailer depicts a white, gloved hand interacting with Bears, Squirrels, Foxes and Owls in a nicely, albeit cartoonishly rendered natural environment. Sim Animals is expected to launch in January 2009 and will be available on both the Wii and DS.
When the presentation moved onto the much anticipated Sims 3, Humble explained that characters you will be able to create in-game are the most complex ever seen in a video game, with each individual sporting a personality that is the product of the sum total of a number of completely customizable traits. Humble additionally confirmed that the Sims 3 will be on sale in January 2009.
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Sim Animals and The Sims 3 trailers
Dead Space:
EA Redwood producer Glen Schoefield took the stage to narrate a gameplay demo of the upcoming Sci-Fi horror - Dead Space. The gruesome tone of this presentation was quite a departure from the innocent fuzzyness that filled the room upon exhibition of the Sim Animals trailer. Check out the video below... if you dare:
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Dead Space Gameplay + Trailer
Mirror's Edge:
EA DICE's upcoming first person title Mirror's Edge, casts you as an acrobatically adept data-runner in a sprawling urban environment. The game promises to deliver players an experience that is refreshingly unique, a notion that is perhaps best conveyed by the demo below:
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Mirror's Edge Gameplay Demo
Spore
Will Wright was next to take the stage and there was certainly no shortage of applause to be had at his appearance. Wright's first order of business was to speak about the success of the recently released Spore Creature Creator, which has been used to create approximately 2 million creatures, a number that exceeds the total number of known species in existence on Earth. Wright Additionally discussed the production of a documentary created by the Natural Geographic on the topic of Spore, which is planned to release in cohesion with the game in September this year.
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Spore Trailer
id
Gasps filled the air as id Software's John Carmack appeared before the crowd following Riccietello's sudden and unexpected announcement of a partnership forged between Electronic Arts and the famed developer of the iconic Doom and Quake franchises. Carmack
promptly begins his presentation, discussing their upcoming title Rage. Developed upon the new id Tech 5, Rage strikes a balance between traditional First Person Shooter gameplay and frantic desert racing, in an environment that is strikingly reminiscent of George Miller's Mad Max film series.
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id's Rage
EA Online Group:
EA's Nanea Reeves kicked off her speech by stating that her group is at work incorporating online features to make EA games 'easier to use and ultimately, much more fun to play', an initiative that has taken the form of the official EA gamer identity system - Nucleus. Nucleus works globally, carrying your profile information between different games and platforms. Reeves expects that Nucleus will have been integrated into at least 25 EA titles prior to the conclusion of 2009.
Nanea also emphasizes the importance of microtransactions in the future of EA's online interactivity, referring to the upcoming Battlefield Heroes and the Sims 2 store as chief examples of EA's support of the microtransaction model.
Sean Fanning followed Reeves with a short presentation regarding Rupture, an online system that allows gamers to keep track of and challenge their friends. Given the strictures of time, Fanning was only able to demonstrate the 'social achievements' feature of Rupture, which grants you the ability to quickly and intuitively issue a challenge to a member on your friends list. Other members of your friends list are made aware of the achievement and are able to submit comments and engage in 'trash talk', as Fanning rather humorously adds. Furthermore, Fanning went on to explain the 'agnostic' nature of Rupture, which purportedly allows those with even a rudimentary knowledge of scripting language to extend Rupture's support to game's not already covered by the network.
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EA Presentation Conclusion
Stay tuned for further updates regarding this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo
Microsoft's E3 Press Conference |
With 2008’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) commencing today in Los Angeles, a frenzied week of news and announcements is expected to ensue. Microsoft’s collective press-conference was first in line:
Fallout 3:
The Crux of Bethesda’s Fallout 3 presentation took the form of the announcement of exclusive downloadable content for the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game.
Resident Evil 5:
Capcom’s Jun Takeuchi took the floor, narrating a gameplay demo featuring the zombie-blasting gameplay typical to the Resident Evil franchise. The demo progressed to a point in which the power of cooperative play was displayed – Chris Redfield assisted the female protagonist of the game in vaulting a gap between buildings and then proceeded to provide cover-fire. Takeuchi concluded his presentation with the announcement of a simultaneous world release for Resident Evil 5: Friday March 13, 2009.
Fable II:
The sequel to Lionhead’s hit RPG is expected to hit shelves no later than this October. Additionally, the developer’s chief spokesman – Peter Molyneux, narrated a short gameplay demo of Fable II, in which he showcased the game’s ability to immediately identify the position of and invite friends into your game world, allowing you to engage in co-operative play.
Gears of War 2:
Epic Game's Cliff Blezinski was on hand to play through a demo of the highly anticipated third person shooter, Gears of War 2. As expected, Cliff’s demo featured a slew of stock standard GoW gameplay, with locusts being gunned down left right and center. Blezinski revealed the release date of Gears of War 2 as October O8.
Netflix Partnership Announced:
Microsoft has officially announced its partnership with the largest online DVD rental service, Netflix. This inititative will grant Xbox 360 owners access to a library of over 10,000 TV show episodes and movies, instantly viewable via their home consoles. Microsoft clarified that the pricing of this service would be tantamount to ordinary Netflix subscription charges, with no additional pricing attached for Xbox 360 users.
Guitar Hero:
Metallica and REM DLC has been confirmed for Guitar Hero. Additionally, The Eagles and Van Halen are set to make exclusive appearances in the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII will join the Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil franchises in abandoning Playstation exclusivity, as evidenced by Square Enix's announcement of their intentions to conduct a simultaneous, multi-platform release for the title on both PS3 and Xbox 360.
Stay tuned for further updates regarding this year's E3.
ActiBlizz Cements Key Talent in Place |
Following the recent conclusion of the Activision Vivendi merger, Bobby Kotick – CEO of the newly anointed ‘Activision Blizzard’, has confirmed that key staff memb |
