New Mass Effect DLC March 10th

From BioWare's official site:

"To date, over 1.6 million gamers have explored the engaging sci-fi universe of Mass Effect. Beginning on March 10, fans everywhere will be able to expand the “Mass Effect” experience with the release of the first ever downloadable content for the award-winning saga.

The Bring Down the Sky downloadable content pack will be released to Xbox LIVE Marketplace on Monday, March 10 at 2 a.m. PST, and will be available for 400 MS points. This is the first in a series of planned downloadable content that further expands the Mass Effect universe and continues the adventures of Commander Shepard and the Normandy crew.

Bring Down the Sky includes a new uncharted world that introduces the notorious and feared alien race of the Batarians. A Batarian extremist group has hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only Commander Shepard can save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid completes its deadly descent.

Bring Down the Sky contains approximately 90 minutes of heart-pounding action and a new Achievement worth 50 Gamerscore points.

Mass Effect is exclusively available on Xbox 360 and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB."

Midway announces "This is Vegas"

Open World, Lifestyle Action Experience Allows Players to Fight, Gamble, Drive and Party in the World's Most Decadent City

CHICAGO - February 6, 2008 – Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer, today announced This is Vegas™, an open world, lifestyle action experience, where players will live out their Vegas fantasies by fighting, gambling, driving and partying their way through the most decadent, fast-paced and wildest city in the world. Developed by Midway's acclaimed Seattle-based internal studio, Surreal, This is Vegas is expected to ship for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows-based PC in Winter 2008.

The first screenshots, video and game information for This is Vegas are being unveiled throughout the week at IGN (http://www.ign.com), the Web's top site for videogame information.

"We are thrilled to be unveiling the first-ever videogame experience which allows players to live out their wildest Vegas fantasies," said Alan Patmore, studio head, Surreal. "Whether it's partying in the hottest night clubs, racing in underground circuits, testing your luck at the tables or getting into a barroom brawl, This is Vegas has it all."

For the latest game information, trailers and more, please go to http://vegas.midway.com.

About This is Vegas

When a powerful businessman begins turning Vegas into a family-friendly tourist trap, you must start your own powerful empire and resurrect the famous adult playground. Party hard at the hottest clubs to make VIP connections. Grow your bankroll by hitting high stakes tables. Race the fastest cars on the underground circuit to raise your reputation. Fight off enemies with fists and firearms to prove your strength. Where you go and what you do is your call whether counting cards, seducing dangerous women, cruising the strip or starting bar brawls, you must put the sin back in sin city.

About Midway

Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY), headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices throughout the world, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for major videogame systems and personal computers. More information about Midway and its products can be found at www.midway.com.

Gears of War 2 in GamePro

UPDATE: Apparently there won't be much coverage of Gears 2 in the new GamePro, in a post on the official Epic Games forum Mark Rein had this to say:

"It is complete nonsense," he writes. "We have not announced a sequel to Gears of War to GamePro or anyone else for that matter."

*So who knows how long it will be until the sequel is announced...


As seen in the cover image, it looks like fans will get a sneak peak of Gears of War 2 before this month's GDC '08. I can't help but wonder what kind of preview Epic let GamePro get their hands on. I guess we will have to wait and see.

"GamePro issue 234, which hits news stands on Feb. 12 and mailboxes next week, has the goods on Rainbow Six Vegas 2, including new information, new weapons, game modes, and features. In addition to exciting developments revealed in the mag, GamePro.com will be announcing a bit of Vegas 2 news on Monday. Rainbow Six fans, keep it locked right here."

Want to download your Halo 3 Fileshare Videos?

Try this method:

To up load your videos and put them onto your PC here is what you need to do

First you will need Firefox and something called Downloadhelper

first download firefox first then download Downloadhelper

When Downloadhelper is done is done downloading the icon for it will appear on the right hand side of the adress bar.

Next step is go register at www.geevee.com and then go click on Grab and fill out all the info it request for you then upload your video to it. After your video is done uploading click on the link you your video.

When you click on your video the Icon for Downloadhelper will flash. Hold down on it and download the .flv file to your video. After that is done head to www.media-convert.com. When at www.media-convert.com get the file and make sure the imput format is set to .flv and the output is set to .wmv. The .flv will be converted to a watchable .wmv file. From there you can get lots of clips and edit them together and anything.

(Thanks to wwm0nkey for the tutorial)

The Fox News Debates: Cooper Lawrence admits wrongdoing towards Mass Effect

Well we finally have some kind of apology. If you hadn't heard, Monday on the Fox News television show “The Live Desk With Martha MacCallum,” author Cooper Lawrence outraged the gaming world by making comments towards the game Mass Effect such as:
“Here’s how they’re seeing women: They’re seeing them as these objects of desire, as these, you know, hot bodies. They don’t show women as being valued for anything other than their sexuality. And it’s a man in this game deciding how many women he wants to be with.”
To top her comments off, GameTrailers TV host Geoff Keighley asked Mrs. Lawrence if she had ever played Mass Effect, to which she replied "No" and laughed.

Well you don't just hit the gaming community and get away with it. As Mrs. Lawrence found out, the gaming community will hit back. Lawrence's book site on Amazon.com as well as Barnesandnoble.com received quite a lashing. Review scores plummeted and angry posts flooded the page.

EA (parent company of Mass Effect's developer BioWare) called out the Fox News program and called for the record to be set straight, which led to Fox News claiming they had invited EA onto the "Live Desk" program with no response. Finally after all of this, Mrs. Lawrence has come out and admitted her comments were wrong.

"I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke. Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.”

Let this be a lesson to all media. Do your research before opening you mouth.

Grand Theft Auto IV dated April 29th

Rockstar Games and Take 2 have announced that one of this years' mega-hits, Grand Theft Auto IV will be releasing April 29th. The game should be the best in the series thus far, and cleans up every issue the past GTA games have had. IGN and Gamespot, among others, have extensive previews of the game for your viewing pleasure!

APRIL 29th

Fox News gets an earful from EA

Following the story posted a few days ago with a video of a Fox news report about how Mass Effect was apparently showing "Full digital nudity" and how it was letting players engage in full "graphic sex," Bioware parent company EA shot back with a rebuttal of their own. The following are a few excerpts from the letter sent by Jeff Brown, Vice President of communications at EA, to Teri VanHorn, producer of the Live Desk with Martha MacCallum show.

(From Gaming Today)

"'As the parent company of BioWare, the studio which created the game, EA would like you to set the record straight on a number of errors and misstatements which incorrectly characterize the story and character interactions in Mass Effect.”

“Your headline above the televised story read: “New videogame shows full digital nudity and sex.” Fact: Mass Effect does not include explicit or frontal nudity. Love scenes in non-interactive sequences include side and profile shots - a vantage frequently used in many prime-time television shows. It’s also worth noting that the game requires players to develop complex relationships before characters can become intimate and players can chose to avoid the love scenes altogether.

FNC voice-over reporter says: “You’ll see full digital nudity and the ability for players to engage in graphic sex.”
Fact: Sex scenes in Mass Effect are not graphic. These scenes are very similar to sex sequences frequently seen on network television in prime time.

FNC reporter says: “Critics say Mass Effect is being marketed to kids and teenagers.”
Fact: That is flat out false. Mass Effect and all related marketing has been reviewed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and rated Mature - appropriate for players 17-years and older. ESRB routinely counsels retailers on requesting proof of age in selling M-rated titles and the system has been lauded by members of Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. In practical terms, the ratings work as well or better than those used for warning viewers about television content.”

[Concerning the panel in the discussion] “They have had zero experience with Mass Effect and are largely ignorant about videogames, the people who play them, and the ESRB system that governs their ratings and sales.”

“The resulting coverage was insulting to the men and women who spent years creating a game which is acclaimed by critics for its high creative standards. As video games continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment. But this represents a new level of recklessness.

Do you watch the Fox Network? Do you watch Family Guy? Have you ever seen The OC? Do you think the sexual situations in Mass Effect are any more graphic than scenes routinely aired on those shows? Do you honestly believe that young people have more exposure to Mass Effect than to those prime time shows?

This isn’t a legal threat; it’s an appeal to your sense of fairness. We’re asking FNC to correct the record on Mass Effect.'"

New Far Cry 2 trailer hits the web...

Enjoy the new trailer for the PC/360/PS3 game Far Cry 2. The trailer showcases Ubisoft's new Dunia engine.

Fox News shows ignorance about gaming once again

Take a look at this news piece Fox News did about Mass Effect.

This news piece infuriates me. "Full Nudity?" Where in the game is that exactly? I have gone through every love scene and the most you see is the side of a breast or the butt of a character.

The news media is so ignorant to the gaming world that it makes me sick. If you have not played through the game in question you should get very little say. The fact that one of the latter guys said the game was "Luke Skywalker meets Debbie does Dallas" makes me wonder if I should even trust the news anymore.

Geoff did the best he could in his 30 seconds of time to defend it, and mention that it's not just "let's go have *** with as many people as possible," and that it is really a love story in the game that leads to it. This game is more like a movie than anything, but there you go, why all of the sudden are video games the hot topic? Do kids not have access to "R" rated movies in their home? I would bet that more households have "R" rated movies than have "M" rated video games.

The ignorance of news-media today really upsets me. Mass Effect is an entire epic story and people need to play it before calling it out to be blasphemy.

What do you think?

Win: Rez HD for free!

How can you win this amazing HD game you may ask? Simply go to the Rez website and register to win. On the last page of registration make sure you click the box that says something about entering to win one of 50 copies of the game. Isn't (almost) free stuff great?

Zero Punctuation: Crysis

Crysis this week with a rather optimistic review... Absolutely hilarious as well.

Zero Punctuation: Silent Hill: Origins

Yahtzee is back again this week with a review of Silent Hill: Origins, enjoy!

Rumor Mill: BioShock Sequel a...Prequel.

Fresh gaming intel from the Czech Republic website Hrej.cz states that a source inside 2K games has stated the next BioShock project will be a prequel set before the original game. These rumors gain steam with the announcement of the formation of 2K Czech, formally Illusion Softworks. The sources also stated that 2K Marin is rumored to be the studio at work on BioShock 2.

Far Cry 2 Coming to 360

Ubisoft announced today that the next installment in the Far Cry series will debut on the Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime in the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Ubisoft states that the engine used for Far Cry 2 is built "from the ground up."

"More than just a visual and technological achievement, Far Cry 2 immerses players in an entirely new kind of gaming experience, featuring a custom-made video game engine built from the ground up. Players will discover a true open world gameplay set in one of the most beautiful environments in the world, Africa, brought to life by high-definition next-gen technology. Far Cry 2 is scheduled to ship fiscal 2008–2009."

Official Statement

Zero Punctuation: Mario Galaxy

Yahtzee is back from the Holidays (or whatever they have in Australia) with another hilarious review. This time it is the Wii's mega-game "Mario Galaxy"

Escapist Magazine