The Second Installment in the Gears of War series from Epic Games hits the shelves today. Gears of War 2 the third person action shooter exclusively for Xbox 360, and is quite possibly the most anticipated game release this year.
The plot line of Gears 2 begins six months after the events of the first installment. You see the return of the games protagonist Marcus Fenix, as well as the COG Delta Squad. The Locust (subterranean creatures) have returned and regrouped after their defeat. They have created sink holes massive enough to swallow entire cities, this has tipped the scale of the war in the Locusts favor. Your goal as well as the Delta Squad’s and all COG forces is to defend the last human city from sinking underground.
It seems that Gears of War 2 carries the same type of game play that fans loved from the original title, and improves on its shortcomings. The single player mode is longer, it is said to be 10-12 hours long. The environments are much larger, and there are greater numbers of enemies you can battle. You have a new arsenal of weapons to choose from including the extra crispy flame thrower. Gears 2 continues the same type of trench warfare , but with with some new added feature, such as the unbelievably satisfying ability to use Locust enemies as a shield to deflect bullets.
Possibly the greatest strength of Gears 2 is it’s Multiplayer modes. The Online Multiplayer has a great deal of modes of play to choose from, including king of the hill, and the enjoyable horde, in which you and up to five players must battle large number’s of enemies attacking you in waves. It includes 10 maps available for play as well as 5 more available for download.
The general opinion is that Gears 2 is an excellent continuation in the Gears of War series. It improves on the shortcomings of the first title, and expands on the type of game play that fans of the series love. Overall Gears 2 is a great shooter. So ready your chainsaws and load your guns it’s here Today!
Today the demo for the highly anticipated FPS zombie horror title Left 4 Dead has become available. Any individual who has already purchased the title will be able to access the demo, the full demo will become available to the public Nov. 11th.
Left 4 Dead is the first person Zombie shooter published by Electronic Arts. It has generated a great deal of buzz for it’s concept, and type of game play. The game will feature a four person co-op, and you will have the option to play as the living or the living dead.
For fans of FPS, and Survival Horror games this demo should help curve the hunger for zombie carnage, until the games release date. The full demo goes worldwide Nov. 11th, and will run through till Nov. 18th. Left 4 Dead will hit the shelves Nov. 17th.
The juggernaut that is Wal-Mart has sat a supreme ruler in of the retail realm for quite some time now. According to Fortune Globe 500 Wal-Mart is the world’s largest public corporation by revenue. It is the largest grocery retailer, and toy retailer, and now it has apparently become Gamer Central.
In a recent IGN study titled “Are you Game Enough” revealed retail king Wal-Mart, has the best video game sales of any retailer. Best Buy and Game Stop/EB Games were tied in second, trailing by only 8% margin. Target was in third, and beyond that the number look bleak.
The highly anticipated Sci-Fi first person shooter Resistance 2, has finally been released. Exclusively a PS3 title, and developed by InsomniacResistance 2 continues the plot of the Resistance Fall of Man in which we see the return of the Chimera who have launched a campaign to conquer the United States. Nathan Hale the games protagonist has also returned and has joined a special task force known as The Sentinels, a group of individuals who are able to resists the Chimeran virus. Hale fights along side the sentinels to try and destroy the Chimeran race and liberate the US from their threat.
The new game includes new Chimeran enemies, the most notable, and most popular, the 300ft tall leviathan. The game has three basic modes of play campaign, cooperative, and competitive and each is said to consist of enjoyable game play. Within the campaign mode you are able to battle along side The Sentinels at multiple locations all on American soil. Within the competitive mode of the game you are able to battle up 60 individuals online within a single match.
From what we have heard the game play is great, and the plot is a good continuation of the first game. The only negative aspects of the game would be the graphics, which are not bad by any means, but are not quite the quality as other big titles like Gears of War2. Despite that small draw back it seems Resistance 2 is destined to be one of the great first person shooters, and will stand along side such great titles as Call of Duty, and Halo.
If you are a fan of the Sci-Fi game genre, or a fan of the first person shooter you will want to pick this game up. The general buzz is that it lives up to the original title.
For any of you who are in the dark about this here is a quick recap. Earlier this month we did a story on how Barack Obama was the first Presidential Candidate in History to campaign through ‘in-game’ advertising. Obama’s mug can now be seen in 18 Electronic Arts titles that he had bought advertising rights within. Xbox Live will be hosting the ads and they will be running until November 3rd. Holly Rockwood, the director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts stated “I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising.”
At the time Rockwood would not reveal how much the Senator had paid for these advertisements, but since the Obama campaign’s filling with the General Election Commission that figure has been revealed. Obama paid $44,465 smackers for in-game advertising with EA; not too expensive when you consider he is paying a cool million for each TV spot.
EA is not officially endorsing Obama, as Rockwood was quoted as saying “these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.” According to GamePolitics some of EA’s higher-ups’ are Obama supporters. One of them being CEO John Riccitiello who has donated $4,600 to the Obama Campaign.
After 2 years of holiday shortage nightmares; Nintendo is taking steps to meet demands for the Wii this holiday season.
For the past two years Nintendo has completely dominated in revenue, due to the demand for the DS, and Wii console. This year Nintendo is producing a world wide average 2.4 million Wii consoles a month, a vast improvement from last year which was 1.6 million. Good news for consumers, who are anxious to get one this holiday season.
Reggie Fils-Aime the president of Nintendo of Americahas said the reason for the shortage in Wii consoles in recent years has been due to a high level of demand; although it hasn’t slowed down in the least; Reggie has assured consumers that this year’s holiday season will be different than the last
In an interview with the LA Times, Reggie was quoted as saying “We’re producing an unprecedented level of hardware to try and meet demand.” Reggie also went on to say that Nintendo is producing 33% more Wii consoles monthly from last year. When asked in the interview how consumers could better their chances of getting a Wii this holiday season Reggie stated “Look at retailer circulars. Go to their websites. We’re flowing products into stores on a very regular basis. Once you see it on the shelf, you ought to buy it.”
The overall message from Nintendo this holiday season is that although they are expected a big demand they feel adequately prepared for it. So for any of you worry warts out there still nervous about the crowds, the shortages, and the Wal-Mart parking lot riots; rest easy because it seems this year will be a vast improvement over the last.
What started as a rumor swirling around on-line has finally been confirmed. Activison, the creators of Guitar Hero2, and 3 have announced their latest creation DJ Hero. The rumor began when Trademork revealed Activision had purchased the trademark protection for the title DJ Hero, and in doing so their intentions become clear, in what was to follow. The title was discovered through an impromptu announcement made during an interview with Activision’s Brian Bright andJoystiq.
Brian was quoted as saying “Activision’s doing a DJ Hero game, and I can’t comment on what we’re doing. But… we’re working on the future and next gen. If I wasn’t excited about it I wouldn’t be there.”
The game is being developed by FreeStyleGames of the UK (makers of B-Boy a break dancing title), and they have been working on it for 2 years now. according to Kotaku, and 1UP; when released the game will include a smash up soundtrack, a co-op mode, and a cool turntable peripheral.
After the Activision, Blizzard merger this is one of the few titles confirmed by the companies. Although no release dates, or consoles have been announced we do know this game is currently in development and is due for release into millions of fingers just itching to scratch some vinyl.
The developers of Firefox, Mozilla labs is currently working on a user interface that is rumored to be the next big step in Web 3.0 standards. Enter Ubiquity which is currently available as an open alpha test. The goal of the new service is to make the internet quicker and simpler for everyday use; by allowing user to control browsing with language based instructions.
Ubiquity will allow users to insert maps anywhere, translate on-page, highlight any code, and many other features that are just to numerous to name.
EA Sued - Electronic Arts is facing a lawsuit today for supposed copyright infringement. The suit involves their NCAA sports game series; in which the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) anthem was used without the permission of the composer. Gerald Willis the composer of the anthem has filled a lawsuit and his lawyer Ellen Winograd has stated that the anthem “was not written for commercial use.”
Willis is demanding 1.5 million dollars from EA for using the anthem titled “Win with the Rebels.” Willis claims he heard the track on 10 separate EA titles and is demanding $150,000 for each violation. The university itself has not been named in the lawsuit.
Here is the list of titles in which the anthem was used
NCAA Football 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
NCAA Basketball 2009
NCAA March Madness 2006, 2007, 2008
NCAA Baseball 2006, 2007
Yesterday at a San Francisco press conference, LucasArts, and BioWare announced their MMORPG title Star Wars:The Old Republic, currently in development. After a poor job of keeping the game secret it has finally been revealed to the delight of millions of fans. The Old Republic, BioWare’s first MMORPG title is based on their previous creation for Xbox Knights of the Old Republic.
As stated before The Old Republic will be based on BioWare’s previous title Knights of the Old Republic; in which the plot takes place thousands of years before Darth Vader. The Old Republic is at war with the Sith Empire; and it has divided the galaxy. Players will be able to choose whether to fight as the Sith, or the Jedi, and defining their path through light or darkness. No matter what side of the war you choose there are levels, and sub levels within the chain of command each consists of its own story.
For every decision you make within the game there is a consequence and your path will be altered by it as well as the path of others. Your character will be able to team up with other characters as well; in which your decisions will be able to affect them as well as theirs affect you.
“For a long time, we’ve long wanted to return to the franchise in a grand way, and felt that the best setting for it was an online world that would allow millions of people to participate in an experience together” said Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts. “We knew that the developer was capable of working with us to deliver an engrossing story with a fully-realized online world was BioWare.”
So at long last the Star Wars and MMO hounds finally have confirmation that this new title is indeed a MMORPG.
Here is a link to the Official SWTOR website in which you can read the Press Release
Below are a couple screens from the Star Wars: The Old Republic
For any of you who are in the dark about this here is a quick recap. Earlier this month we did a story on how Barack Obama was the 
What started as a rumor swirling around on-line has finally been confirmed. 
EA Sued - 
