Killzone 3 Multiplayer Releasing For Free

BY

Guerrilla Games has announced that they will release Killzone 3 Multiplayer for free. This will include the the Guerrilla Warfare, Warzone and Operations game modes, as well as the original Killzone 3 maps and all Killzone 3 DLC maps.

While multiplayer is free, players will have to pay $15 to rank past Sergeant I and unlock Trophies. Those that do pay up will get a 24-hour double XP bonus, 3 free unlock points, the ability to set up clans and custom games, and access to the Botzone mode to help hone your combat skills, with a Double XP Weekend coming for those that own Killzone 3 already over the weekend of March 2 to March 5.

Mass Effect 3 Promotion Ends Up A Tree

BY

Recently, Electronic Arts announced a promotional plan to launch copies of Mass Effect 3 into the sky using weather balloons. While it was designed to be a neat way to give out copies of the game, one copy near San Francisco has ended up a 150 ft. tree, leaving the onlookers to try and bring it down, first with a baseball tied to a rope and later using a slingshot.

Source: facebook.com/masseffect {page no longer active}

Diablo III Director Says Date Announcement Coming ‘In The Near Future’

BY

Diablo III has been under a lot of scrutiny of late, with a forum post saying that fan’s expectations may not be met, followed by yet another delay. Diablo III Game Director Jay Wilson has come out to put things in perspective, calling the post “obviously sarcastic” and clarifying that they’re not trying to temper expectations at all.

“As those of you in the beta have seen, the game is in good shape. Actually, I should say that the beta version of the game is in good shape. The latest full build we’ve been testing here in the office is in great shape,” detailed Wilson. “We get a lot of sympathy from the other teams because of the long hours of crunch our design team is putting in, but the secret is that playing through the game as we do final tuning, bug fixes, and optimizations is a real joy. We always know a Blizzard game is almost ready when we have to ask members of the team to stop playing so they can get their work done. That’s definitely been the case around here.”

“We think you’re going to love Diablo III when it’s released, and speaking of release plans, you can seriously expect a launch-date announcement from us in the near future. See, I didn’t say ‘soon,’ so I’m not taunting you. You’ll know as soon as I know for sure the exact date,” he added. “And by the way, we want you to have high expectations for Diablo III and all Blizzard games. That’s what pushes us to try to make the best gaming experiences we possibly can. If Diablo III wasn’t a worthy next installment in the Diablo series, we wouldn’t release it. That’s the way we do it. That’s the way we’ve always done it.”

“As I’ve said many times in the recent past, we think Diablo III is coming along great and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it. We’re doing all we can to ensure you have one hell of a time once you step foot in Sanctuary…”

Source: Battle.net

ArenaNet Celebrates 1 Million Guild Wars 2 Beta Sign Ups

BY

ArenaNet recently let their 48 hour beta period run a little bit longer in order to reach their mark of 1 million beta sign ups. Not soon after, the mark was reached and there were celebrations at the developer.

“As a tribute to this fantastic moment and the amazing community that made this possible, we recorded the moment when the studio watched the counter go over a million Guild Wars 2 beta sign up,” posted the company on Facebook.

The video of the moment can be watched at www.Facebook.com {page no longer active}.

Binary Domain Creator Sees Console Market Shrinking

BY

Sega’s Toshihiro Nagoshi has helped create Yakuza and Binary Domain, so he knows all about AAA development on consoles. However, his expectations of where he’s expecting the industry to go is in the direction of mobile phones, if only because of simplicity in the controls.

“Well, the first thing is that consoles – PS3, PS4, Xbox 360-2 – the market for those will get smaller, and the main market will become portable games,” said Nagoshi. “I don’t think consoles will disappear, but more and more people will use home PCs for gaming, and a long time in the future it will just be PCs and mobile phones, and eventually mobiles will become just as powerful as games consoles.”

“The most important and unavoidable thing is the interface. Right now, that means either buttons or touchscreens,” he added. “Those are the only two interfaces we have. I think it’s strange the number of buttons has increased and never decreased. So that means we need to reset things, somehow. Like I was saying earlier, I think the answer lies in some as-yet unknown third type of interface.”

Source: PSM3 {link no longer active}

 

Google Hires D.C. Veteran To Head Washington Office

BY

Former congresswoman Susan Molinari has been named head of Google’s Washington office as vice president of public policy and government relations for the Americas during a time period when the search giant is facing increasing scrutiny from the federal government on issues like privacy and antitrust. Molinari represented Staten Island in Congress from 1990 to 1997, when she was elected to the House GOP majority leadership, making her the highest ranking Republican woman in Congress.

“The Google office in Washington has not had someone with the visibility of a former member of Congress, and with her understanding of the complexities of the legislative process,” said Former Sen. John Sununu. “Google is receiving a higher level of scrutiny. … When you’re such a large and growing company, you have to have a strong, visible, capable leader in Washington.”

“She’s a true trailblazer and her enthusiasm for our technology and its potential to change lives will be a real asset to our team in the Americas,” said David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer.

Source: Politico.com

HP Sees Diminishing Returns On Decreased PC Sales

BY

Hewlett-Packard announced that their second-quarter earnings report has missed estimates, as sales in the PC group dropped 15 percent to $8.87 billion in the period that ended in January. This is a reflection of consumer trends heading in the direction of smartphones and tablets that competitors make.

Revenue from servers, printers and storage gear also declined. “All these segments are going to have headwinds,” said Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc.

“U.S. PC shipments declined last year for the first time in a decade and the industry is wrestling with a shortage of hard drives after flooding crippled factories in Thailand last year. Meanwhile, Apple Inc.’s iPad is cutting into PC sales, and Lenovo Group Inc. is gaining market share,” writes Aaron Ricadela. “Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other PC makers are counting on a new crop of thin-and-light laptops called ultrabooks to spur sales.”

Source: Business Week {link no longer active}

Doctor Who Game First Unreal Title On PS Vita

BY

Epic Games has confirmed that Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock will be the first PS Vita game developed using the Unreal Engine. Supermassive Games is developing the game exclusively for PlayStation systems.

“At Supermassive, we always try to be very pragmatic about our choice of technology and choose the right tool for the job at hand,” said chief technology officer at Supermassive Games, Jonathan Amor. “Our aim for Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock is to match it as closely as possible in aesthetics, tone and sound to the television series, and also to achieve a new level of quality on Sony’s outstanding platforms. Critical factors in our decision to license Unreal Engine 3 include the capability and maturity of the Unreal Editor and tool chain, and we required an engine that has proven success in the marketplace.”

“We are big Doctor Who fans here at Epic,” added Epic European territory manager Mike Gamble. “It’s brilliant to see the world of Doctor Who brought to life by the team at Supermassive and especially to see Unreal Engine 3 powering the game that’s bringing this universe to a whole new platform and an entirely new generation of gamers and Doctor Who fans.”