Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category:
EA to Launch DRM-Free Games via Steam Platform
Go get you Steam platform ready. Electronic Arts is going to use the platform to release its future game. And there’s a nice twist to that too! EA will launch games free of DRM over Steam. The company is ready to go to the next level of saving games. No more digital rights management issues for the true gamers. You’d still have to pay to play the games though!
The game available through Valve’s Steam are Spore, Mass Effect, Crysis and FIFA Manager 09. EA will launch Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space soon.
via arstechnica
World War Video Previews a Future Video Game Talent?
World War – 3D Animation @ University Of Hertfordshire 2008 from Digital Animation Herts Uni UK on Vimeo.
The video here has everything a World War of the future video game would needs. There’s a history lesson and there are robots. There’s fighting and there’s humor. There’s a nuclear bomb and a kick in the nuts, which frankly I can understand since there are a bunch of robots fighting. What’s most important about this video are its creators. Those guys there might be the developers of the games of the future. As we can see so far they have the skills to properly design a game. All they need now is a great idea to start a game. We’ll be waiting…
via Boing Boing
First Gears of War 2 Gameplay Footage
As promised earlier, Microsoft and Epic Games have released the first in-game footage from Gears of War 2. The video features an introduction by series creator Cliff Bleszinski, who delivers details on the game’s storyline and some of the gameplay mechanics. The video showcases huge environments, large numbers of enemies on-screen, chainsaw duels, and new and improved visuals.
Gears of War 2, similar to its predecessor, is exclusive to Xbox 360 and will be released this November.
Coming Tonight: Gears Of War 2
The first trailer for Gears of War 2, arguably the most anticipated game now that GTA IV is out, will be available starting tonight on Xbox Live at 11pm and then on IGN a little while later. It will of course only be a brief, tantalizing glimpse of the game at a mere two minutes in length. It will feature a special introduction by the infamous ‘CliffyB’ or Cliff Bleszinski (which hopefully won’t last longer than actual gameplay footage). You’ll also get a glimpse of the new chainsaw duels and apparently ranged combat on a grander scale than in the original.
Killzone 2 Delayed to 2009
Recently announced by Sony, Killzone 2 is no longer slated for release this year as initially planned. Now coming Feburary 2009, the game remains one of PS3’s killer apps, along with Resistance 2, if it ever hits the PS3 that is.
While it’s a bummer that the game is getting delayed, it’s definitely a good thing that we now know when we can actually expect to be playing the game, rather than just going by speculation.
Again, Killzone 2 is now set for a Feburary 2009 release and will be a Playstation 3 exclusive.
GTA IV Budget Revealed
Grand Theft Auto IV, which has been scoring perfect 10s and breaking UK sales records, is a very ambitious game that has to have a budget in the high millions. But just how high is that million? A $100 million to be exact.
Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies revealed in an interview to Times Online that the game had a cool $100 million budget, putting it ahead of Shenmue for the Dreamcast, which had an unprecedented budget of $70 million.
“It’s like making a theatre production, a few movies and an album all to fit into one package,” he remarked.
Benzies also noted that about 1000 people worked on the game. Rockstar also set up time-lapse cameras around New York City to capture the correct intensity of rain; they also took over 100,000 photos on location to put together the in-game city.
“We’re constantly competing against ourselves,” said Benzies. “If something isn’t exactly right, it comes out of the game or gets fixed.”
Whatever happens, Rockstar and Take-Two are sure to make the money back, seeing as how gamers have been gobbling it up throughout the world.
Inital Reactions: Legendary Map Pack
Hardcore Halo fans already know this, but for the rest of you out there, Bungie’s Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack has officially gone live today. 800 Microsoft Points will get you Blackout, Avalanche, and Ghost Town.
I’ve been testing the three maps pretty extensively since about 8:00 this morning (it is now 11:00) and have some initial thoughts on all of the three maps.
The first map I played of course was Blackout, being a remake of everyones favorite Halo 2 map Lockout. My initial thoughts on the map is that it definitely does Lockout justice, weapons are placed perfectly, most of the jumps are there (the only ones removed are the ones that toyed with Halo 2’s physics), and the new UNSC weather station theme gives the map a fresh new feel while still staying true to Lockout. So far I’ve only played 2v2 Team Slayer on this map and I must say, it really feels similar to Lockout. The thing I am really waiting for though, is to see how the map holds up under the new MLG rules.
Next was Ghost Town. I went into this map without really knowing what to expect. I thought it was going to be a huge and complicated map that I wasn’t going to like at all, however I was wrong on most of these points. First off, the map really isn’t all that big, complicated yes, big not so much. I found that while running 2v2 Team Slayer it really felt like a map that wasn’t going to get veto’d when it appears in Matchmaking and that people are bound to like it much more than maps that came bundled with the game (Snowbound and Epitah to be exact 
). Ghost Town is sure to be a hit with Zombie game type fans as it looks like a gloomy run down facility with a sort of creepy feel. There is a Mongoose on the map with a pretty much circular path around the whole map for easy transportation. Weapon placement is fine, Sniper, Laser and Rockets were three power weapons I found with relative ease. There is also an Over Shield and Active Camouflage placed nicely on the map and with the set up of the map these two power-ups will prove to be extremely useful.
Last but not least, Avalanche. Not being a fan of large maps, out of the pack I was least excited about one. After running through it I see how it could be fun in Big Team or a similar play list, but it is just too huge to do anything else with. The enormous man cannons they have placed around the map, that shoot you about 2 times as far as the main one on Valhalla, were extremely entertaining, to say the least, for the 5 minutes I played with them. Another thing I really like are the arctic themed skins for the weapons and vehicles on the map, making the map feel much more unique and immersive.
Overall, the Map Pack is definitely something that any hardcore Halo fan will be sure to download, on the other hand if you are just a casual player and don’t want to spend the money, wait a while until the maps are offered for free. Of all the three maps you can without a doubt expect to see Blackout being played the most, now all we need is a Midship remake.
Great Deal: CoD4 for $35
If you haven’t gotten Call of Duty 4 yet now is your chance. Amazon has begun selling the FPS with $25 off the list price, bringing the final price to just $35 dollars. You better hurry though as the deal only lasts today, and don’t worry it covers both 360 and PS3 versions of the game (sorry PC gamers).
You can catch the deal here.
New DS at E3?
While there is no solid evidence to support Famitsu publisher Hirokazu Hamamura’s speculation that this year’s E3 may mark the unveiling of the latest-and-greatest version of Nintendo’s most popular hand held console to date. At this point, Hamaura’s speculation is based purely on industry chatter and his own gut feeling that a new DS is right around the corner.
Joystiq outlines Nintendo’s handheld release schedule since the Gameboy Pocket, making it clear that this really isn’t that hard to believe considering Nintendo has released a new version of hand held roughly every 2 years:
- 1998: Game Boy Color
- 2001: Game Boy Advance
- 2003: GBASP
- 2004: Nintendo DS
- 2005: Game Boy Micro
- 2006: DS Lite.
I guess all we can do in the meantime is cross our fingers and wait until E3 rolls around to see what’s in store for us.
GTA IV PS3 Map Leaked
It seems that Gtagaming.com has gotten their hands on pictures of the official GTA IV map included in the PS3 game box. Showcasing things like every landmark, store, restaurant, and street on one side while the other shows the full PS3 controller scheme along with a complete map of the underground subway featured in the game.
Click through the links below to see the various snapshots of the map:
- Snapshot 1
- Snapshot 2
- Snapshot 3
- Snap Shot 4
- Snap Shot 5
- Snap Shot 6
Sorry for the Downtime
Those of you who tried to visit us in the past few days were met with a disheartening error page, for which all of us here at DigitalBatttle apologize. Luckily, we’re in the process of squashing the last of the dreaded database bugs to get the site back up and running at tip-top shape. Remember to check back daily for the latest news from the gaming world.
Oh, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate!
Mass Effect Sequel Will be "Richer"
The release of Mass Effect has seen much praise heaped on BioWare, but the studio has kept mum on the subject of a sequel. That is no more, as BioWare general manager Greg Zeschuk has begun speaking about the sequel, specifically addressing the side-quest system, saying that it will be “richer” than its predecessor which was criticized for being too repetitive.
He talked about building the foundation of the game, stating that it will be much easier to integrate content and “make things richer” for the sequel. As expected, he does not offer any release date (it’s too early anyway) but he does look forward to the game being “smarter”.
Lego Halo April’s Fool Joke
Here’s something we didn’t expect: Bungie is working on a Halo Lego game — imagine Lego Star Wars with the Halo universe. That’s what EGM’s April issue had to say, but before we could get our hopes up (or down), the news has been dismissed as an April’s Fool joke. Some sites jumped on the wagon rather quickly, which we can understand, Lego Halo, hell yeah. But no, really, it’s a an April’s Fool joke. The first one of 2008.
Blu-ray Not Big Enough for Metal Gear Solid 4
It has been revealed that even the Blu-ray disc isn’t big enough for the awesomeness that is Metal Gear Solid 4. Speaking in Kojima Production’s podcast, producer Ryan Penton stated that the highly anticipated game will not include voice overs in other languages, meaning that the Japanese version will not have English voice overs and vice versa.
“Unfortunately because of disc space, we don’t have the space to include other languages, other voice over files for the respective versions,” he siad. “So the Japanese version’s not gonna have English VO, and the North American and European versions won’t have Japanese VO.”
No worries, though, since the PS3 does not have any regional protection, letting you import a Japanese copy if you were so inclined on listening to the characters speak gibberish.
Sony Announces 80 GB MGS4 PS3 Bundle
Sony has announced a new PS3 bundle, this time, packing an 80 GB hard drive, includes Metal Gear Solid 4 and a DualShock 3 controller, all for $500. The new SKU will launch together with Metal Gears Solid 4 this summer. In addition, Sony revealed a new, red PSP, which includes God of War: Chains of Olympus, Superbad on UMD, and a free, dowloadable, Syphon Filter Combat Ops game. The PSP pack will be available in June for $200.