Latest News
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MARCH15thuser comments01200 points for five MW2 maps, three new By: Keith B
Fans waiting for the release of the 'Stimulus Package' map pack for Modern Warfare 2 can expect to fork out 1200MS points when it lands on March 30.
Infinity Ward's Community Manager Robert Bowling made the announcement on Major Nelson's podcast this week.
The pack, which contains three new maps and two remade maps from CoD4, has come under fire because of the hefty price, after the company was lambasted for having a higher RRP for the original game than any other new release. In comparison, Bad Company 2 players get access to map packs free, if they bought the game new, and not preowned.
The three new maps are:
Bailout, which takes place in a multi-level apartment building, Storm, an industrial park littered with heavy machinery, and Salvage, a car junkyard.
Crash and Overgrown are the two maps being remade for release. Read the full story » -
MARCH14thuser comments0Doctor Who game to be ... different By: Frank20
Nintendo has agreed a contract that will see it release a Doctor Who game for the DS and the Wii before next Christmas. According to a press release, the game is at the early stages of development and will be modelled around the new Doctor, played by Matt Smith.
The game will see the Doctor battle the show's favourite enemies The Daleks, the Cybermen and the Silurians. The gameplay is set to be a little different with the Doc using his cleverness and technology to defeat his foes rather than violence. Formor Doctor David Tennant said:
“The video game was quite actively developed, but it's difficult to nail as the Doctor doesn't blow things up. He's not Batman, who goes around smacking people in the head.”
Meanwhile Kiss front man Gene Simmons has revealed that Guitar Hero 6 is on the way before it has actually been confirmed by Activision. Simmons let slip to a reporter for a gaming show that he was to be the voice for Guitar Hero 6. Read the full story » -
MARCH13thuser comments0WIN: Beta codes for Blur By: Keith B
We've been hammering away at the Blur beta for the past few days, and can kinda see why there's a fair bit of excitement for it. It may not be the most cerebral game out there but it should definitely have a market on the 360, being sorta like Mario Kart and Wipeout.
Anyway, we got an email last night saying that because we'd been such good people by playing the beta, we've been given a few more keys. So, if you'd like one, drop an email to keithb@hellbored.com with Blur beta in the subject line, and I'll randomly select three people to get online. I will deliver the keys on Wednesday March 17, because it's Paddy's Day and I'm Irish. What? No, I'll send them before I go to the pub.
Good luck. Read the full story » -
MARCH12thuser comments0Reggie Watch: The Wii is apparently still perfect By: RyanD
In an interview with Forbes, Nintendo Of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has made the bold assertion that the Wii doesn't need upgrading. As well as shunning both HD and 3D display technology as something Nintendo is "not interested" in, Reggie went on to say:
"...We pride ourselves on the big innovative jump, typically in the area of the consumer experience. The way we approach that innovation, because we have hardware developers working side by side with software developers, is that when the software developer comes forward with an idea that can't be executed on the current platform, that's when we start thinking seriously about the next system. We're not there yet, from a Wii perspective."
One does wonder, ultimately, what kind of filter that Wii Perspective is looking through, since the number of released games out there NOW that simply can't be executed on the Wii could almost fit into your average football stadium. Read the full story » -
MARCH12thuser comments2Next LOTR title to be motion controlled By: Frank20
Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment announced today that The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest game will launch for the PlayStation 3 with full support for upcoming motion controller technology. The game will be launched this autumn for the PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii and the DS.
The game is set amid the Lord of the Rings movies and Middle Earth literature. It follows Aragorn through his various battles from the movie trilogy, using Sony’s new motion control system for - here's the blurb - "precision through mastery and engages players with intuitive motion control gameplay where every gesture instantly and accurately translates to weapon strikes in the game. Two player control allows Gandalf to fight by your side."
It is being developed for the Wii by Headstrong Games and for the PlayStation 3, PSP, and Nintendo DS by TT Fusion. A number of actors from the movie trilogy have also agreed to reprise their characters to add authenticity. Read the full story » -
MARCH11thuser comments0Stats on social gaming By: colmwarner
A recent survey carried out on social gamers has revealed statistics that may come as a surprise to some. The survey was carried out on Myspace and Facebook and questioned people who play social games. 24% of those who responded say that the play social games regularly, and while a small percentage, this equates to 100 million regular players in the US and UK.
While social gaming is still relatively new compared to traditional videogames, already the scope to reach vast target audiences exists. One statistic which presented itself as a stark contrast to popular belief is that the average social gamer is a 43-year old woman.
Some other interesting facts emerged from the study, carried out by PopCap games, who have developed massively popular casual games across multiple platforms:
* US players play more frequently than their UK counterparts.
* Women are more likely to play games with friends, men with strangers.
* Social gamers spend up to 39% of their time on networking sites playing games.
So, it would seem that the stereotypes associated with gamers are fast dissolving as more and more of the world discovers the distraction of button-mashing. Read the full story » -
MARCH10thuser comments2Rock Band 3 announced, Australians shouldn't care By: Keith B
Although analysts have been declaring the musical instrument genre to be on the wane, offering the paltry sales of DJ Hero as proof that consumers are getting over their infatuation with small plastic instruments, Rock Band 3 has been announced.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman confirmed that Rock Band 3 is in the pipeline during a talk at the Credit Suisse Group Global Media and Communications Conference. He also said that it would have a worldwide release schedule, and will be here in time for 'the holidays', which is Christmas in case you weren't sure.
Harmonix's Facebook page offers: ""Harmonix is developing Rock Band 3 for worldwide release this holiday season! The game, which will be published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts, will innovate and revolutionize the music genre once again, just as Harmonix did with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band. Stay tuned for more details!"
Whether or not Australians will care is another matter. Being forced to pay full whack for Rock Band while people the world over were already getting sweaty with the successor is a situation that will not be forgotten lightly. It begs the question: can the IP be salvaged on Australian soil? Read the full story » -
MARCH6thuser comments6Call of Duty developer hits Iceberg By: Lachlan
The founders of Infinity Ward - developers of the insanely popular Call of Duty series - have abandoned Activision, citing the publishing giant's refusal to pay royalties as the reason.
In a lawsuit filed last Thursday, Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella claim that they were fired by Activision to prevent them from receiving royalties they were owed, a move they refer to as the result of "astonishing arrogance and unbridled greed" on the part of Activision.
Activision have filled the positions vacated by West and Zampella with their own execs, and laid claim to the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare franchises.
In response to the lawsuit brought against them, Activision have said that West and Zampella were fired due to their conduct, and that they will continue to develop and release games based on Infinity Ward's franchises.
Sledgehammer Games - the studio made up of personnel responsible for Dead Space - are slated to take Call of Duty in a more "action-adventure" direction, while Treyarch are working on a title for release in 2010.
While Infinity Ward are still responsible for keeping Modern Warfare 2 up to date with new content, the long-term ramifications of these events are predicted to be dire. Read the full story » -
MARCH2nduser comments4Strange new update to Portal causes speculation By: Lachlan
Those logging into the Steam service this morning would have been greeted with the news that a new update to Valve's blockbuster Portal has just been released.
Rather cryptically, the update states that developers have "changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations".
New sound files and a cryptic new achievement ("Transmission Received" - unlockable if you put the radio on the red button on the first level) have been added to the game, all of which point to... well, nothing yet but this is Valve we're talking about. Once the achievement is earned, the game apparently starts blurting out morse code, with a total of 17 minutes of the archaic communication there to hear (although we haven't confirmed this ourselves - if you can get your grandad or someone in the army onto it, let us know).
Users on the Steam forums and elsewhere have unlocked a handful of mysterious images and sounds from the 26 radios apparently scattered around the game, but nothing that points to anything concrete yet.
While Valve have been diligently working on Left 4 Dead 2 and updates to Team Fortress 2, it's been a while since we've seen a new title set in the Half-Life universe, which is what a lot of people are hoping for. Read the full story » -
MARCH2nduser comments2PS3 issue resolved By: Keith B
Although we're yet to receive official word from Sony, we've managed to get our PS3 back on the PSN in a few easy steps. To get yours back online, follow this simple procedure:
1) Firstly, turn off your router - completely remove the PS3 from any network
2) Turn on the PS3, and go the Time and Date under Settings
3) Enter the time and date manually
4) Turn on your router
5) Connect to the PSN
We can't see any loss of data or trophies either. Armageddon averted. Read the full story »
