EARN TRIPLE XP IN GEARS 2 THIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

posted 5/27/2010

What better way to get acquainted with the new features and fixes in Gears 2’s latest update than a triple XP weekend? Starting Thursday, May 27, at 9 AM EST and running ’til Tuesday, June 1, at 9 AM EST, every variety of Gears 2 online multiplayer will net players three times the usual haul of experience. Take the fight online and boost your rank!



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The Enemies Of Gears Of War 3

Feature

by Meagan VanBurkleo on May 28, 2010 at 02:40 PM

Things look pretty dire for Sera’s dwindling survivors, not to mention for the planet itself. The introduction of a third faction – the Lambent Locust – has resulted in a planet populated with foes more monstrous than ever. Lambent Stalks erupt from land and sea alike, spawning swarms of Polyps that spit noxious fluids. The Lambent Drudge are no cake walk, either. Their ability to mutate allows them to target multiple members of your team at once. To make matters worse, they go Kamikaze when near death – attempting to take you out in a last-ditch effort. Delta’s in for an uphill battle. Check out our complete breakdown below, and remember to click on any image in the gallery for the full-size preview.

Filed under: Feature, Gears of War, Marcus Fenix, Xbox 360, gear, epic games, Lambent, Locust, COG, Lancer, Gears of War 3

Games Mentioned In This Article

• Gears of War 3 Xbox 360

Screenshots

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Microsoft Tag comes out of beta, promises free colorful codes for all

By Tim Stevens posted May 28th 2010 1:08PM

It was about a year and a half ago that Microsoft decided it could do QR codes better, that any universal coding system needed a dash of color, and launched Tag. Now, the roughly one billion Tags that users have printed have been made a little less illegitimate, with Microsoft bringing the service out of beta and taking the opportunity to toot Tag's trumpet a bit. The codes have appeared in 20 million magazines so far and have recently been deployed to create a sort of tour for geeks in Amsterdam (no word on whether our own international man of mystery is featured). Meanwhile America's cultural hub, the Mall of America, has been similarly bestickered to "enhance customer engagement," but based on our previous experiences at that bastion of commercialism we're thinking scooters and foot massages might have been more effective.

MovieMiguel.com

Sirius XM Android app hits the Market

By Paul Miller posted May 28th 2010 12:50PM

That's right, we're downloading the brand new Sirius XM app to our favorite, not-at-all-fragmented Android handset as we speak. Sure, we don't actually have a paid satellite radio subscription, but if you hit up the source link you can sign up for 7 days free while you multitask it up against Robo Defense on your own phone. There's no mention on the download page of specific handset compatibility, so let us know if you have any trouble running the app on that Motoblur phone your mom bought you.


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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Comes to Platinum Dunes

Source: Deadline New York

May 27, 2010

Michael Bay and the rest of Platinum Dunes will oversee the launch of a new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, according to Deadline New York.

The film marks the first non-horror remake for Platinum Dunes, who will team with Paramount and Nickelodeon to re-adapt the property.

The franchise, which began as a black and white comic book series in 1984, rose to tremendous popularity when it became an animated series in 1987. Following the first live-action film in 1990, the series spawned two live-action sequels, a live-action television series, a second animated series and a CGI feature film.MovieMiguel.com

Ex-Microsoft Exec Says Natal Will Fail

Annette Gonzalez on May 27, 2010 at 03:50 PM


With not a whole lot of specifics out there regarding Microsoft's upcoming motion-based control peripheral, it's hard to make a guess at whether or not the device will succeed. Scot Bayless, former studio manager at Microsoft, however, has his mind made up and thinks Project Natal will fail.
"When I met with Microsoft in 2008 to look at Natal I asked: 'When will you integrate this into the 360?'" Bayless said. "Their response was: 'We're probably going to wait and see on that.' To which I said: 'Then you're going to fail.'"

In the past, Bayless has had executive roles at EA, Midway, and Capcom. He says producing the peripheral could divide Microsoft's consumer base and turn off developers.
"Plays like this always fragment and the disincentive to developers is powerful; when I'm spending tens of millions on a game, the last thing I want to do is lose 90 percent of my market."
What do you think...is Bayless suffering from disgruntled ex-employee syndrome, or do you think he has a good point?
MovieMiguel.com

Hamill: Arkham Asylum 2 is Joker's Last Hurrah

Batman's super villain is going out on a high note says actor.

UK, May 26, 2010

 Mark Hamill – the voice of Joker in Batman: Arkham Asylum – has hinted that the super villain's appearance in the sequel could well be his last. Talking exclusively with IGN at the Cannes Film Festival, Hamill said of his role of the Joker, "This will be my last, there's no question about that. But it's the last hurrah."

Hamill added that he was also unsure as to whether he should even have appeared at all, initially thinking developer Rocksteady would be unable to top the original game and that he "wanted to be able to say I'd gone out on a high note," but was finally convinced to resurrect Joker once more.

Hamill also revealed how he's extremely protective over the role, but equally was blown away by Heath Ledger's interpretation of the character in The Dark Knight: "He was the most joyless Joker. Not a hint of theatricality; he was almost like a heroin addict. It never would have occurred to me, and that's why it was so delightful and surprising."

To find out what convinced Hamill to sign up for the first Batman: Arkham Asylum and how Hollywood A-listers often struggle to get their heads around acting in games read the full interview .

MovieMiguel.com

Ubisoft’s New Toronto Office Taking On Next Splinter Cell

News

by Jeff Cork on May 25, 2010 at 01:02 PM

Gamasutra has posted a profile of Ubisoft’s latest studio, Ubisoft Toronto, and it’s a great read for anyone interested in the company’s games or just game development in general. Ubisoft announced the formation of the studio about a year ago, but the company hasn’t divulged much information about Ubisoft Toronto since. Now they’re talking, with confirmation that the studio will be taking on development of the next Splinter Cell game.
"All of the core team has relocated with me from Montreal," said studio manager Jade Raymond. "Where you develop a game does have an impact on who it appeals to... When you think of it like that, I think the Splinter Cell franchise fits Toronto."
It’s just a passing reference, with nothing in the way of game details, timeframe, platform or anything else, but it’s something.


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Mass Effect is Coming to the Big Screen

Source: ComingSoon.net

May 24, 2010

Legendary Pictures has just announced that it plans to develop Electronic Arts and Bioware's popular video game series Mass Effect into a feature film:

Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that Legendary Pictures, whose successful co-productions include The Dark Knight, 300, Clash of the Titans, The Hangover and Watchmen, has acquired theatrical feature film rights to the hit videogame franchise, Mass Effect. The project will also fall under Legendary's co-production and co-financing agreement with Warner Bros., who will distribute the film worldwide. The producers are in discussions with Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Thor) to draft a screenplay based on the epic science fiction game series. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni will produce the film with Avi and Ari Arad. BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will serve as executive producers, as will Mass Effect executive producer Casey Hudson.

BioWare’s epic science fiction series takes place in the year 2183 and follows Commander Shepard of the SS Normandy who leads a team on a mission to defeat an ancient alien race that invades the galaxy every 50,000 years, wiping out all organic life. The most recent game in the series, Mass Effect 2, was released in January of 2010, and earned rave reviews from critics worldwide.*

“Mass Effect is a tremendous property ripe for translation to the big screen,” said Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures. “Mass Effect is a prime example of the kind of source material we at Legendary like to develop; it has depth, compelling characters and an engaging back story. This coupled with Avi and Ari producing and the skills of a great team adapting the screenplay, are the start of turning this smash videogame based property into a successful feature film.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Legendary,” said producer Avi Arad. “EA and BioWare are terrific partners who have created a brilliant piece of fiction with a universe filled with amazing aliens and technology. More importantly, though, they created a parable whose conflicts mirror the ones we currently face in our own world. This story emphasizes the need for all cultures to learn to work together. All this magic is presented in a fast paced action-adventure that makes for the best kind of movie experience.”

“At BioWare, we’ve always thought of Mass Effect as having the depth, emotion and plot twists perfectly suited for an adaptation to a motion picture,” said Casey Hudson. “With Legendary and Avi and Ari Arad attached, we believe that the Mass Effect movie will be an extraordinary entertainment event that realizes our vision for the franchise and thrills fans.”

Pat O’Brien, VP of EA Entertainment added “The mission of EA Entertainment is to take key EA properties and find additional ways to bring these properties to people. We can’t think of a better fit than Mass Effect and we couldn’t be more excited to bring Commander Shepard’s adventures to the silver screen.”

Mass Effect 2 is available on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC. Assets are available at info.ea.com. For more information on Mass Effect, go to http://masseffect.bioware.com/


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Blur Features Innovative In-Game Facebook Integration

Bizarre Creations' powered-up racer allows players to connect with friends through Facebook straight from the game's unique 'Share' functionality.

May 24, 2010

Press Release

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Activision Publishing, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: ATVI) highly-anticipated racing title Blur will deliver a new level of social interaction to gamers later this month by allowing fans to challenge their friends and share achievements directly from inside the game through Facebook.

By seamlessly integrating an innovative "Share" button, Blur lets players choose to light up the competition in both single and multi-player modes by sending game challenges to friends and posting in-game photos, racing stats, unlockable items and much more on their Facebook pages.

"Blur's innovative integration with Facebook makes it easy for players to interact with their real friends to share game play, emotions, and the racing experience," said Dan Rose, Vice President of Partnerships and Platform Marketing, Facebook. "Blur is leading the next generation of console games integrating with Facebook to make gaming more social for our more than 400 million users."

"Blur is the first multi-platform videogame that connects the television to Facebook, and for the first time, videogame audiences on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC will be able to link their console gameplay to their network of friends," said Robert Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard. "Facebook has become a fantastic platform for videogames and Blur elevates it even further."

Blur is the ultimate powered-up racing experience, where players collect addictive and intense Power-ups throughout each course, including the ability to blast other cars out of the way with huge bursts of energy, boost speed with Nitros, drop Mines and even generate defensive shields to fend off other racers. Blur offers online multiplayer supporting competitive and cooperative gameplay for up to 20 racers, including team racing and objective based events, and also supports 4-player split-screen. For more information on Blur, please visit the official game web site located at www.blurthegame.com, and check-out Blur on Facebook at www.facebook.com/blurthegame.

Blur is scheduled for release nationwide May 25th for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and the PC, and is rated "E10+" by the ESRB.

About Bizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations is a video game developer based in Liverpool, England. Established in 1994, the company is famed for such high profile franchises as Formula 1, Fur Fighters, Geometry Wars, The Club, and the Project Gotham Racing series. With 200+ staff working out of a custom-built development studio, the company now simultaneously develops several next-gen projects across various platforms. They can be found online at www.bizarrecreations.com.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.


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GameStop Powers Up A New Rewards Program

Soon there will be a completely different card to forget to bring to GameStop with you, as the retailer's new PowerUp Rewards program goes into beta testing, featuring both free and paid cards packed with benefits that don't entirely suck.
GameStop's Edge card is on the way out. I'd say good riddance, but I haven't been able to find mine for ages, relying on the store's computers to bring up my 10% discount on used merchandise and 10% trade-in bonus. Both of those bonuses and a subscription to Game Informer are just the beginning of the benefits that come with the new PowerUp Rewards Pro card.
The main difference between the Edge card and the new PowerUp Rewards card, aside from there being a free version of the latter available for those not wanting to fork over $14.99, is the new points system.
Here's how it works. For every dollar you spend on new merchandise at GameStop using the card, you earn 10 reward points. Used merchandise scores you 20 points per dollar, as do trade-ins. You also get bonuses on your birthday, upon initial activation, and upon establishing your online games library, which I assume GameStop will use to aim marketing in your direction.
What can you get with points? According to the website, there'll be a revolving series of gifts, from GameStop gift cards to movie and dinner coupons to Xbox Live and Netflix subscriptions.
According to the GameStop lackey who passed the information on the program along to us, "The rewards range from coupons for $5-$10 off purchases ranging from 4000 to 8000 points to even free Xbox 360 controllers or Turtle Beach X11 headsets for 40,000 points. Us employees get 4000 points to start off with, enough to purchase a $5 off a used game coupon or PS3 real triggers!"
40,000 points for a free Xbox 360 controller? Why, that's like spending $4000 on new games and getting an Xbox 360 controller for free!
He also mentioned that those silly game warranties they sell are also worth points. Feel free to ignore this paragraph, and GameStop's video game warranties.
Okay, so the rewards aren't all that impressive so far. There's still the Epic Reward Giveaways, where you can win special prizes like trips to NASCAR events or beta testing slots for upcoming games! Each transaction earns free members one entry into the drawings, which Pro users score two per transaction.
So remember, once this goes live, make sure you purchase each of your items individually, even if you have like 20 of them.
I'm sure exploits like that are exactly what the beta testing process means to get rid of.
The program is currently being tested in Ohio, Tennessee, and Missouri, with nationwide implementation expected within the next month or so. If you just can't wait, head over to the PowerUp Rewards website to sign up for the mailing list.



MovieMiguel.com

Preowned Customers Paying Extra? GameStop Doesn't Care

The recent trend for publishers to lock out content to customers buying pre-owned versions of games was supposed to be a swipe at GameStop, but the giant retailer reckons the move won't hurt it one bit.
"We support the creation of added downloadable content for popular franchises, as we see that as extending the life of titles and broadening the base of game players", GameStop's Paul Raines has said.
"We do not anticipate an impact to our used margins due to this program. The amount of used game buyers currently playing online is low, and as it grows, our proprietary models will manage trade and sale pricing to reach margin goals."
And how will the company do that? One guess is that they'll simply slide the prices of any affected games accordingly, but another reason is a little more obvious.
"Lastly, we believe that the online pass process will allow publishers to better leverage their IP content through DLC sales to both used players and new game buyers". Which suits GameStop just fine, seeing as it's the biggest single seller of pre-paid vouchers for online marketplaces.
Doesn't matter how much the milk costs if you also control the sale of the cows...


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Checking Out Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition...In 3D!

News

by Phil Kollar on May 24, 2010 at 06:06 PM

Earlier this month Square Enix released a new Game of the Year Edition of their extremely popular superhero action game, Batman: Arkham Asylum. In addition to some downloadable bonus maps packed in, this new release includes a 3D mode that works on any TV. We decided to grab some copies and test out the new 3D mode for ourselves.

Here's the new packaging. Note the awesome quote on the cover. Man, that quote must have come from a pretty great publication! Also worth noting is the box's proclamation that the game's 3D mode works on any TV. Since they're using old-school 3D image technology, you don't need a fancy new 3D TV to experience it.

Open it up, and you're greeted with these red- and green-tinted cardboard glasses. Square Enix has helpfully included two pairs in the package so that a buddy can take in the mind-blowing new technology alongside you.

Here are the glasses outside of the packaging. They're kind of flimsy, and the writing on the inside of the flaps warns about a choking hazard. I probably shouldn't have been handling these on my own.
How does the 3D actually work in action? Like the cardboard glasses included in the box, it's functional but clumsy as hell. In the half hour or so that I spent trying it out, the 3D effect was subtle but noticeable, especially on some of the guards and signs inside Arkham, and occasionally on Batman himself.
This very slight 3D effect, though cool, probably isn't worth the trade-off in terms of the graphical hit. The game becomes significantly blurrier when 3D is turned on -- even when you're wearing the glasses -- and its impressive visual details are washed out in a green-and-red filter.

Game Informer's Andrew Reiner shows off the latest in high fashion.

Also if you've ever worn this style of old-school 3D glasses at a theater, you'll know that some people are susceptible to headaches while using them. The same holds true here. It hurts even more when you turn on Batman's detective vision, which turns everything in the environment blue on top of the red and green lenses. Ow.
On the plus side, 3D mode can be toggled on and off at any time from the game's menu, so if you want to test it out but quickly decide it's not for you, or if you want to use 3D only for smaller segments throughout the game, that's totally possible.
In addition to the 3D, Game of the Year Edition comes with four extra challenge maps that were originally downloadable. It also tracks Achievements separately from the original, so if you've been looking for a reason to replay Arkham Asylum before the sequel, you can gather some extra points while doing so.

Game Informer's Dan Ryckert doesn't understand how glasses work. Also, headphones.

This is by no means an official review, but if you're looking at Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition just for its 3D capabilities, it's probably not a worthwhile investment. However, if you haven't checked out the game yet, this seems like a great package.
MovieMiguel.com