This is Button Mashing, Grizzly Bomb’s video game news headquarters. Previews, interviews, rumors and all the latest stories relating to the biggest games, all in one place. Here are the most important things you need to know for the week of January 30th, 2012:
‘Xbox 720’ Chipset in Production – (IGN)
Rumors and hearsay has become cold, hard fact: “Xbox 720”, or at least its core ‘System on a Chip’, is already being developed. According to Fudzilla:
“Recent speculation that the new main System on a Chip (SoC) for the Next Xbox began production is apparently accurate; the SoC did indeed start production in late December of 2011. Sources tell us that the code name for the chip is Oban, and it is being produced by both IBM and Global Foundries for Microsoft.“
Fudzilla’s report continued with a lot of important (and partially incorrect) combinations of words and numbers which are certainly important and made no sense to someone as tech-stupid as myself:
“The power behind the next Xbox will be a PowerPC CPU that is married to an ATI Southern Islands GPU, or modified 7000 series…”
However, IGNcorrected the initial mistake with the following update:
“…mass production of the system’s GPU will indeed begin by the end of 2012 but will not, however, be based on AMD’s 7000 series Southern Islands GPU. Instead, the processor will be derived from the 6000 series, which was introduced last year. More specifically, it will be akin to the Radeon HD 6670, which offers support for DirectX11, multidisplay output, 3D and 1080p HD output.”
They went on to summarize it for the layman (Thank you IGN. Sincerely: The layman):
This is Button Mashing, Grizzly Bomb’s video game news headquarters. Previews, interviews, rumors and all the latest stories relating to the biggest games, all in one place.
I’m The Wozz, and here are the most important things you need to know for the week of January 23rd, 2012:
Max Payne 3 Shows Off Its Targeting/Weapon Systems
Rockstar Games is doing a series of behind-the-scenes featurettes which shed some light on the new mechanics and technology going into the upcoming return to the Max Payne franchise. The second one is out now, and it goes into some of the ways they’ve fine-tuned the shooting mechanics.
Initially I was pretty dismissive of a new Max Payne. I really liked the first two games, they were powerfully story-driven, atmospheric and the gameplay was enjoyable, to boot. But the bullet-time feature that drove the whole franchise, and revolutionized almost every single shooter after it was getting tiresome by Max Payne 2. It’s a very cool thing to see the first 6 or 7 times, but it eventually becomes a pace-breaking crutch, just like the more recent ‘VATS’ mechanic in Fallout.
But these little promos are really starting to work their magic. Rockstar Games are just some of the best storytellers and innovators in the industry, and Max Payne looks like it’s just as wonderfully dark and unique as ever before. Begrudgingly it’s turning me around.
Resident Evil fans were abuzz last week because promos for RE6 started being reported at retailers. Posters like this one have appeared in stores around the country, point at a November 20th, 2012 release date:
The news comes, as promised, following a viral marketing campaign from NoHopeLeft.com, which posted dozens of mysterious photos and videos pointing to some kind of conspiracy. The blog repeatedly pointed to January 19th, 2012, at which point the official announcement was made.
Following the reveal of Resident Evil 6 came this teaser:
The trailer reveals the return of Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy, and an amazing amount of content for a first teaser.
Skyrim Creation Kit is Almost Here – (Bethesda Blog)
Coming straight from Bethesda themselves, it looks like the biggest game of 2011 is about to give players the opportunity to create their own content in Skyrim. From Bethesda themselves:
“For all you PC gamers, you will be happy to know that the Creation Kit and Steam Workshop are nearly ready. Bethesda is currently working with members of Valve and their modding community to do some final testing and are on track for a public release near the end of the month. The current update plan for the PC is to first release updates as “beta” versions through Steam. This is something you’ll be able to opt into through Steam and back-out of if needed.“
Meanwhile, the developers are also working on the game’s latest update. Version 1.14 will patch a lot of the game’s hiccups for all 3 platforms, hopefully making it even easier to lose yourself in Tamriel’s Northern-most province. For a list of all the glitches and bugs resolved in the update, they’re all listed on the blog.
Infinity Ward’s Looking Ahead at Next-Gen Call of Duty – (IGN)
IGN shrewdly discovered that a job listing posted on Infinity Ward’s website is requesting a senior animator “with experience in-game development and an interest in working with next-generation technologies.”
It’s not a huge surprise that there are plans to make a CoD game for the next iteration of the home consoles, but Sledgehammer Games has reportedly already done the same. IGN speculates as to the possibility of the job offers being connected, but it will be a long time before the full story is announced – Sony and Microsoft have still not made any official statements regarding the release of new hardware.
Mass Effect 3 Will Feature Kinect Voice Control – (IGN)
If there’s one thing hardcore gamers will come together to support, it’s the unanimous disdain for motion controls and extra peripherals like voice commands. The joypad is king to the dedicated player, so fans were kind of disappointed when it was announced that Mass Effect 3 would allow Xbox Kinect users the opportunity to use voice control for certain actions. However, doubters might want to relax because apparently the voice commands work extremely well, and really compliment the gameplay:
“Mass Effect 3 uses Kinect only for voice commands – absolutely no motion recognition is supported. Instead, any command that players previously had to pause the action to access, like Biotic powers, ammo swapping or party member management can now be managed by voice. This allows players full access to Shepherd’s suite of combat options without ever pausing the action.
Most important of all is that this Kinect integration just works. When you say sniper rifle, Shepherd switches to his sniper rifle. Saying “Adrenaline Rush” activates the biotic power. Say “James, Move” and your squad mate moves to the location you have pointed out. During the entire demo, I never once had a voice command not register properly.“
“Miranda, Disrobe” The one voice command not accepted…
I don’t own an Xbox 360, and while I’m not heartbroken that I’ll be missing out on the voice commands, I’ll admit that bringing up the power menu or designating your squad to move around during combat can be a chore in Mass Effect. If the tech works as accurately and consistently as IGN says, it could resolve one of ME‘s few flaws, and allow for more fluid, better-paced combat.
I know all too well the pain of having to scale back a game’s graphics in order to make it work on my rig (Read: mediocre 5 year old laptop). In fact, I had to reduce Mass Effect 2‘s specs to some extent to run it on Steam and still could only play in 45-minute intervals or run the risk of overheating. It sucks to not be well-equipped, is what I’m saying. But thankfully I’ve got the requirements for Mass Effect 3 right here, so you won’t have to worry about whether or not your PC can adequately handle it:
Minimum Spec:
• OS – Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7 *Supported chipsets: NVIDIA 7900 or better; ATI X1800 or better. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 9300, 8500, 8400, and 8300 are below minimum system requirements, as are AMD/ATI Radeon HD3200, HD3300, and HD4350. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.
• CPU – 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU) • RAM – 1GB for XP / 2GB RAM for Vista/Win 7 • Disc Drive – 1x speed • Hard Drive – 15 GB of free space • Video – 256 MB* (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support) • Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible • DirectX – DirectX 9.0c August 2009 (included)
Recommended Spec:
• OS – Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7 • CPU – 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU) • RAM – 2GB for XP / 4GB RAM for Vista/Win 7 • Disc Drive – 1x speed • Hard Drive – 15 GB of free space • Video – AMD/ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB or greater, NVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB or greater • Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible
Side Mission also included the fact that in order to run ME3 PC users will have to register and run Origin, both for online and offline use.
This is Button Mashing, Grizzly Bomb’s video game news headquarters. Previews, interviews, rumors and all the latest stories relating to the biggest games, all in one place.
I’m The Wozz, and here are the most important things you need to know for the week of January 16th, 2012:
Modern Warfare 3’s First DLC Hits Jan. 24 on Elite – (Side Mission)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Elite subscribers are about to get their first downloadable pack, featuring new maps and multiplayer content. The first bundle is slated to kick off what Activision and Infinity Ward call a “Modern Warfare 3 Content Season for Call of Duty Elite,” which essentially consists of 9 months of periodic DLC.
The process will dole out all of the game’s future bonus content as it is finished and ready to go, as opposed to lumping several of them together in less frequent, individual packets, as promised to all paid Elite subscribers.
This initial release will include two maps, Liberation (a take on NYC’s Central Park) and Piazza (an Italian villa), which will be playable in competitive multiplayer, as well as Spec Ops Survival mode.
On top of that, Infinity Ward’s creative strategist, Robert Bowling, mentioned that future packs will include more varied offerings, like new game types and Spec Ops missions, and even the possibility of new weapons:
“It is something that we’ve looked at,” Bowling said. “All of that stuff is on the table for us when we’re looking at what sort of content drops we want to do throughout the season.” Bowling added that there’s “a bunch of other stuff we want to experiment with” for future Modern Warfare 3 content drops.“
Along with the two above maps, premium Elite members will get access to three more between now and March. Later all of that content will be bundled together and released for the rest of the Xbox Live community. As of now there is no word on a release date for non-Elite PS3 or PC players.
A Full List of Mass Effect 3’s Cast of Characters – (IGN)
Mass Effect is hands-down the most character-driven video game franchise out there, if not for its stellar writing and RPG interactions, it’s because of its unprecedented ability to bring some of your old friends and enemies, complete with your full relationship history, into each subsequent chapter (providing you haven’t killed them all, of course).
This means that fans will be dying to know who is going to make a return in Commander Shepard’s final mission. Well, IGN has compiled a list of confirmed characters you’ll reunite with in your battle against the Reapers:
Welcome to Dark Knight Station, the Hero Express‘s main stop for all the news on The Dark Knight Rises. We’ll keep you up to date on all the biggest bat-news coming straight from Gotham City.
Mind the gap and avoid the shadows; This stop is the Dark Knight Station for December 3rd, 2011.
Official Announcement for the IMAX Prologue – (IGN)
News that a 6-minute prologue of The Dark Knight Rises would play with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal at IMAX theatres has been pretty well-known for a while now, with rumours and talk about it going on for months, but now Warner Bros. has cemented it with an official announcement. The full transcript:
“Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Dark Knight Rises” — the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy — is one of the most anticipated films of 2012, but moviegoers won’t have to wait until next year to see the six-minute opening sequence of the film. The film’s prologue will be unveiled exclusively in select 70mm IMAX® theatres worldwide. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Prologue will be released in North America on December 16, and in the UK on December 21, 2011. Additional international dates vary by territory and will be announced soon.
In making the 2008 blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” Nolan was the first to use IMAX® cameras in a major motion picture release, and, as now, audiences were given an advance look at that film’s prologue months prior to the Summer 2008 opening. Nolan employed the extremely high-resolution cameras even more extensively on “The Dark Knight Rises”—including the film’s prologue—to achieve unprecedented crispness and clarity and a truly immersive experience for the moviegoers.
Christopher Nolan stated, “Our experience on ‘The Dark Knight’ shooting and projecting IMAX 15 perf 65mm/70mm film was inspiring. The immersive quality of the image goes beyond any other filmmaking tool available, and in revisiting Gotham, we were determined to shoot even more of the movie in this unique format. Giving the fans an early look at an IMAX sequence is a great way to draw attention to what I believe will be an incredible way to experience our story when it comes out next summer.””
The prologue is only set to play in select theaters, and the press release includes a list of all the theaters in North America and the UK where it will run, which you can check out at the bottom of the page. Make sure you are somewhere near one of those places when the day comes. I know at the strike of midnight on December 16th I’ll be at Scotiabank Theatre, cape and utility belt ready to go.
Gearbox Software’s hit shooter Borderlands came almost out of nowhere in 2009, selling close to 5 million copies worldwide in the three years since its release. No surprise then that Gearbox is in development for a sequel slated to hit shelves sometime in 2012, and IGN has a whole truckload of details on the upcoming installment from the series’s concept designer, Scott Kester. Borderlands 2 will once again take place on the planet Pandora, but there are a lot of refinements being made to the way you’ll experience the old setting. For one, the game will feature a lot more variance in the look of the planet, adding snow and fields to the usual rockiness of the original, but there’s more to the world than just a change of atmosphere.
“There’s a lot more diversity this time around, but not even just in the environments, also the creatures that inhabit them.”Enemy AI is more intelligent in the sequel; you’ll see creatures “ripping things up and throwing it at you or just scanning the landscape and on the fly taking different pathways at you.”
In addition to Pandora itself, Borderlands 2 will feature a brand new ensemble of playable characters, eschewing the original four from the previous game. This is in order to better suit the deeper class system and skill-tree elements. Traditional damage upgrades and the like will be available but Kester noted players will have the ability to “modify their character’s behavior in more significant ways.”
“We’re really trying to make sure there’s a lot more depth for the more hardcore RPG player side. We wanted to make sure that even though you only had one action skill we were going to give you multiple ways to use that, more so than we did the last time.”
It really seems like Borderlands 2 is going to focus even more heavily on the weapons; different weapon brands are going to be a bigger deal and more distinctly so.
“The hardcore guys really understood the differences between a Jakobs and Tediore,” said Kester, and they plan on making everyone aware of just how big that difference is this time around. “
“We actually took all the guns we made in the last game and in all honesty we basically chucked those and we started again from the ground. We didn’t want to just re-skin the guns from the last game. Every single gun in this game is different from the last one […]
The system itself works relatively similar but now we have a lot more components to it. We can add a lot more variants. Sometimes they can just be purely visual like there’s a bunch of nails sticking out, but a lot of times that might add to the melee damage dealt with the weapon. We’re trying to make sure all the things we’re adding aren’t just there for show but there is gameplay to support them. We felt that the last game, an assault rifle kind of looked like an assault rifle but you weren’t sure what its attributes were going to be until you fired it. We’re really trying to make sure that that feels right even at a glance. It’s much easier to tell how effective a gun is going to be at this or that due to the amount of barrels it has on it or just the size of the clip. There’s still the tech effects from the last game too and some more surprises as far as that goes.”
On top of all the inner-workings being upgraded and revamped, Kester went on to address the story element of the next Borderlands, addressing the original’s unbalanced focus on co-op play and promising a better experience both for multiplayer and single-player gamers.
“I think statistically there were actually more people that played the game single-player just because that’s the nature of consoles right now. We’ve really made sure that the single player side this time is more satisfying.”
Most enticing of it all however, may be this tidbit:
“We’re trying to make sure that we’re not a cut-scene game, we’re not going to stop to tell you the stuff. We’re trying to integrate the story into the missions so as you’re playing you’re being delivered story, you’re being hopefully more engaged. The missions themselves aren’t so much fetch quests all the time that are just A to B, A to B. We’re making sure that those really propel the story forward.”
With all that in mind, remember Gearbox is still keeping their lips sealed on a lot of other content. Borderlands 2 is shaping up to be far bigger and more expansive than its predecessor, so if you’ve already experienced Pandora before (and I don’t mean the blue cat-people one) I’m sure you’re anticipating this one. I know I’m excited, and I never managed to get my hands on a copy of the first.
It would appear that the newest Peter Pan movie will not feature Channing Tatum pretending to be a little boy and flying around in green tights, and thank heavens that is the case. Instead we will get yet another reimagining of a beloved classic in the vein of the recent Alice in Wonderland and the upcoming Oz: The Great and Powerful. However it appears so far that this film will not take place in Neverland.
Here is a description of the movie’s plot and three excellent actors/actresses joining the new film from IGN:
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