PS3 Gets Exclusive Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood DLC

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Ubisoft and Sony announced today that they will release a free, PS3-exclusive download for Assassin s Creed Brotherhood. Called the Copernicus Conspiracy, it will be available for download on November 16, 2010 when the game comes out.

This additional content revolves around Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (see what I did there ), who will have extra assignments for Ezio, including courier, assassination and protection missions, writes Jeff Rubenstein, Social Media Manager for SCEA. The missions are part of a storyline involving a conspiracy against Copernicus and his heliocentric philosophy, which was revolutionary at the time.

Source: PlayStation.Blog

NBA 2K11 Goes 3D On PS3

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2K Sports has announced that NBA 2K11 will be available on 3D for the PS3. This enhancement will be available exclusively for the PS3 system at Best Buy starting November 16, 2010, while current owners of NBA 2K11 for PS3 will be able to download an upgrade to enable their game to play in 3D for free from the PlayStation Store starting in January 2011.

The authentic broadcast presentation of NBA 2K11 is something we re really proud of, said Greg Thomas, president of product development for 2K Sports. The new 3D capabilities literally add a new dimension to the experience and provide a level of immersion that has never been experienced in a basketball video game.

PlayStation Move: The Fashion Icon

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Paris Game Week 2010 had a number of promotions, as French gamers crowded around to try the latest and greatest games around. There were a couple of interesting promotions going on as well.

 

Michael Jackson: The Experience

Raving Rabbids (or Les lapins crétins)

PlayStation Move and, uh, some interesting fashion.

Source: Flickr

EA’s Five-Year Plan For Facebook

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Electronic Arts has announced that they have signed a five-year agreement with Facebook. The two companies say that the strategic relationship will simplify the experience for users by making Facebook Credits the sole payment method of EA games on Facebook; they will receive 70 percent of revenue as is standard for Facebook Credits.

Since gaming has emerged as the most popular category of applications on Facebook, the natural next step is for EA to broaden its relationship with Facebook and its 500 million users, said Barry Cottle, Senior Vice President and General Manager for EA Interactive. Our goal is to make the best games tailored specifically to the platforms on which people want to play.

EA recently launched Monopoly for Facebook, and is bringing Pogo Games to Faceboook. The Pogo program is currently in beta and already includes Poppit!, Word Whomp, Scrabble and Boggle.

We are pleased to enter into this long-term partnership with EA to make it easier for people to purchase virtual goods across some of the most popular games on Facebook, said Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships and platform marketing at Facebook. Playfish has a great reputation for building high-quality games on Facebook, and we look forward to working even more closely with them and the larger team at EA.

F.E.A.R. 3: Oh The Horror

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While a lot of emphasis has been put in making F.E.A.R. 3 an action based shooter, perhaps not enough attention has been paid towards it being a horror game. That is all rectified in this trailer for the game coming March 22, 2011.

Dragon Age II: The Hindsight

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There are lots of magical armors and armaments . . . but what about belts This Penny Arcade motion comic details the history of Hindsight, which can be gotten by registering on the official BioWare forums.

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit Commercials Fulfilling Fantasies

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Electronic Arts has announced that the ad campaign for Need for Speed Hot Pursuit will be led by Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara. The two play parking valets unable to fulfill their fantasies with exotic race cars, only able to live out their dreams in Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

Three of the five promotional videos have gone live at http://www.needforspeed.com and http://www.youtube.com/needforspeed. The final commercial will debut on November 4, 2010 and will continue running on network television through the holiday season.

Android Continues To Eat Market Share

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The NPD group recently reported that Android shipped 44 percent of all smartphones in the U.S. during the third quarter. It was followed by Apple iOS, which had 23 percent, while RIM fell from 28 percent last quarter to 22 percent in the third quarter.

“The HTC Evo 4G, Motorola Droid X and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD.

Android’s rise was also supported by Canalys, which stated that Android handsets worldwide were up 1,309 percent from the same time last year at 1.4 million to 20.0 million units in Q3 2010. They estimate that the market share is now 25 percent.

“We are seeing more volume going into the mid- and lower-tier. We have reached a tipping point, smartphones are no longer the high-tier product,” said analyst Pete Cunningham. “Operators are looking to push smartphones into prepay market as these phones are generating a lot of data traffic revenues.

Source: eWeek

Metallica Headlines Call Of Duty: Black Ops Event

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Metallica and Activision today announced a special event to promote the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Taking place at Santa Monica Airport’s Hangar 8, the event will be headlined by Metallica with hopes to raise $1 million for The Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit organization designed to help soldiers transition to civilian life and help them establish jobs and careers.

“We are honored to have Metallica partner with us to pay tribute to the brave servicemen and women who have risked their lives at war only to return home to find their biggest challenge is searching for a job,” stated Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “Today, the unemployment rate for veterans is 21 percent higher than the rate for all Americans, with veterans’ unemployment topping 500,000. We believe that the business community can and should do more. Through The Call of Duty Endowment, we are committed to raising millions of dollars for job assistance and training programs for veterans and raising public awareness for this serious issue.”