First Gears of War 2 snippets of info

Since its official announcement at GDC earlier this week the internet has been rife with speculation with what Gears of War 2 will do next, out doing Gears 1 will not be an easy task.

Little has been said by the Dev team about what will happen to Marcus Fenix and his team in the next instalment, the only clue being a Demo video for the revised Unreal Engine also showcased at GDC this year. Despite Epics silent treatment, new information has emerged, straight from the mouth of Marcus Fenix (and Futurama's Bender) voice actor, John DiMaggio:

"We're doing Gears of War 2 right now; we're in the middle of production," he revealed. "I'm reprising my role as Marcus again. I'm doing one of the characters, Franklin - those are the two that I'm reprising."

Franklin's return is surprising, if not a bit baffling because he wasn't exactly the most interesting of characters. What is exciting however, is confirmation that we'll finally be able to take on the gigantic Brumak (we're not paying attention to you, PC gamers)...

"It's badass. In fact, I saw some of the stuff yesterday! Which level was it? It was, well listen, there's bigger beasts in this game. Bigger beasts. Remember the scene with the Brumak, when the Brumak comes out and we're like 'Brumak! Roll! Get outta there!' and it's coming after them - and they don't have a fight with him? Well, they fight him now"

Clearly the Guy is excited about the prospects of next game, as are we. Gears 2 is set for a November 2008 Launch, that's as long as Mark Rein hasn't already killed John.

Source: CVG

Official: MGS4 out June 12th

The long awaited fourth and final instalment of the acclaimed series Metal Gear Solid has been Officially announced to launch simultaneously on June 12th 2008 in both the US and in Europe.

However, that isn't all, the game will be released on Blu Ray disk and will include a full version of MGS online:

The game will be released on a Blu-Ray disc containing both Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Online - a dedicated online title that uses locations and gameplay elements from Guns of the Patriots," Konami confirms.


Further more you wont need to wait until the 12th of June to try MGS Online, a public Beta of the game has also been announced. Further details to come shortly.

Source: CVG

8 days emerges once more.

Remember seeing this game, way back at E3 2006. It certainly looked impressive, even if it is a CGI film. However, with virtually no new information since then, many simply assumed it had been canned. Well, apparently Sony London, the development team behind the project had other ideas. New news has emerged about the game. A new trailer along with gameplay demos were reportedly showcased behind closed doors at GDC. Sony hasn't officially released any new information on the game, but if reports are true this is what we may expect:

You'll travel across eight States of North America. This, as you might imagine, is said to make for one of the biggest game maps in any console game to date. So large, in fact, that you will never revisit any one location, and will be constantly pushed to move on.

It will also apparently incorporate Google Maps functionality, and tie into a real-life clock, so when played at night in real life, it will be night in the game.

You take control of one of two characters (possibly one of the two seen in the early trailer), each with their own storyline and varying abilities. One's a bad guy, who's out for revenge on a mob syndicate.

The other is a good guy - a detective who's in search of the same mob syndicat, who've kidnapped his son. Their paths, predictably, cross at some point, and they end up working together.

Reports are comparing the game to Killzone 2 Graphically and to Uncharted: Drakes Fortune in animation. This, if true sounds awesome to say the least. The title is expected to see a release date of approximately October 2008, an official announcement is thought to be made very soon.

Source: CVG

WipEout HD blazes in with new screens

You have to admit, it does look rather good. Here are several new screens showing off WipEout HD in all its glory, high definition explosions, intense racing and big crashes are expected.

WipEout HD is a repackaged version of earlier PSP WipEout games and will be available as a PSN download later this year, there has been no word on whether it will see a disk released as well although this is highly likely.

Source: CVG

Bioshock Review

"No Gods or Kings, only Men"

Let me set the scene. Its the 1960's, you are travelling over the Atlantic on a passenger air plane, smoking a cigarette and clutching a gift. Suddenly your plane free-falls from the sky, crashing into the ocean. You awake in a daze, the plane is sinking and fire engulfs the ocean surface. You seek refuge on a isolated lighthouse, thinking it will provide a safe haven, in fact it is the portal to another world.

Bioshock is the latest offering from 2K games aka irrational studios. It is set in the world of Rapture, an underwater haven, crafted by its founder and ruler Andrew Ryan. Rapture is designed to be man's utopia, where human creativity and knowledge know no bounds, morality and religion do not constrain the human development, a place where the artist is truly free to express. In reality, Raptures limitless freedoms ultimately lead to its downfall.

Bioshock in essence is an FPS game, although to label it as such would be very short sighted as it plays more like an RPG. Bioshock's fascinating plot weaves you around the city of Rapture, on the way encountering beautifully crafted realms which contain soul-less inhabitants. The basic story revolves around the discovery and exploitation of plasmids and a substance called Adam. Combined, these allow Human upgrading, certain plasmids unlocking different skills, such as telekinesis's and the ability to conjure fire and electricity. These are not only a vital part of the gameplay but also of the story. The back story comprises of smuggling and power over the distribution of Adam and the ability to use plasmids. This story is re-created perfectly as the player progresses through the game with a series of audio diaries, genetically induced ghostly flash backs of past events and radio messages. The story is a huge part of Bioshock and has been expertly written. It is engrossing enough to keep you following for the whole game and always leaves you wanting more, the plot twists are superb and most importantly believable.

The main characters in the game split between Humans, Splicers (whose rampant plasmid and adam gorging has left them in a state of near insanity, virtually devoid of any human emotions and feeling) and the little sisters who are genetically altered children designed to extract Adam from dead people. Their protectorates are the big daddies, who are in their own right one of the most fearsome and destructive creatures in the game, their only mission being to protect the little sisters. Radio messages and audio diaries introduce a compelling back story with a diverse range of characters, all of whose actions become entwined, eventually leading to the story of the current day (in game) and revealing the protagonists past. What follows is truly a remarkable turn around and one which really exemplifies the high standard of the story and script.

Gameplay is solid and progressive expansive. New areas of the underwater world only become open once the current missions are complete, so in a sense its a fairly linear lay out, however, once in an area you as the character are free to go where you wish, harvesting splicers, dealing with little sisters,completing missions or simply admiring the beauty of the world. There is a wide range of plasmids and weapons, all of which can be upgraded and host a variety of different firing rates and ammunition.

Graphically, Bioshock is superb. The lighting and water effects add greatly to the feeling of Rapture, enabling you as the player to almost believe that it is a living, breathing entity. The lighting, radio messages and tools all add up to create a believable and intoxicating theme, the sex, drugs and rock and roll attitude of the 1960's is captured perfectly in the city, further adding to the games experience.

Bioshock never sacrifices gameplay for story or vice versa. What it does do is deliver a highly entertaining and thrilling experience. The story telling outclasses just about any other game in its genre.The gameplay is tight and intuitive to allow for solid and fun gameplay, never becoming a focus point for anger but at the same time never making the game especially easy or creating a feeling of god like invulnerability. There would be little point in being stranded in an underwater world, full to the brink with psychotic, half human beings if your character shared the superhuman gun fighting abilities of James Bond. Even if FPS games are not you thing this game will not dissapoint, it exemplifies all of the qualities a next generation game should, solid and intuitive gameplay mixed with beautiful settings and wrapped up with a compelling story with a wide range of characters that generate a storm of emotions, not unlike something you would experience at a pantomime. Bioshock is simply a must for any gamer, young or old, experienced or new. If ever there was a reason to buy an Xbox 360 console, this is surely it.

Microsoft drops HD-DVD add-on

Following Toshiba's announcement last week that it was dropping the HD-DVD format, Microsoft were left with little choice but to follow. Microsoft released this statement:

"As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market.

"As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own."

The only question that remains is whether Microsoft will release a Blu Ray disk player. Microsoft haven't at any stage ruled this option out. However with Microsoft semmingly focusing more on Digital distribution over Xbox Live it does seem that Blu Ray would take a back seat.

Source: CVG

Along with the Gears of War 2 unveiling at GDC 2008, Epic Games have also released new information about the new and improved Unreal Engine. The Unreal Engine has been at the forefront of recent game design and has been incorporated in many significant projects such as Gears of war, Rainbow 6: Vegas and Unreal Tournament. This latest announcement and video demonstrate the changes and improvements Epic have made. Now this by no means that the following content will be in Gears of War 2, but when you see what technology they have at hand, you cant help but get excited by it.

Check out the GDC video over at Gametrailers.com

Source: CVG

Hogs of war 2

It would appear that hogs of war 2, the sequel to the popular Hogs of war on the ps1 and pc has been confirmed. Infogrames earlier revealed several new titles including two new hogs of war games, one set to launch on the ps2, Wii and DS with the other being made for the Ps3 and Xbox 360. A release date hasn't been officially set for either title but both are believed to set for a 2008 launch.

Source: TVG

If Japanese websites are anything to go by then it appears that Mario Kart Wii, the highly awaited sequel in the Mario kart series, will be hitting shelves in Japan on April 10th, followed shortly after by a release date of April 25th for the UK.

This seems very hard to believe, mainly as Nintendo have released very little information about the new game. These dates have yet to be confirmed by Nintendo, whose last official release schedule for the game was Q2 2008.

Whether this is just a rumour or the actual date, the news will no doubt spark huge hype amongst Wii owners world wide.

Source: CVG

Owners of Call of duty 4 on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 will be treated to some more multi player maps, courtesy of Activision this Spring.

Neither Activision or Infinity Ward were willing to divulge any more apart from saying that:

"the upcoming downloadable content will thrust gamers into a hot zone of added combat across a variety of intense multiplayer locales" and speaking of "added gameplay variety".

Could new gameplay variety mean the introduction of vehicles, a feature that the game currently doesn't offer at all on-line. There has not been any word on whether these maps will be free to download or whether they will feature on the PC version.

Source: CVG

1 Million folding@home

The Folding@Home program on the Playstation 3 is a feature that allows users to donate some of their PS3’s processing power to aid in the study of protein folding. This study is helping scientists attempt to tackle the development of a number of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Cystic fibrosis and certain forms of cancer.

The support for this program has reached a new milestone, as now over 1 Million ps3 users from around the world have signed up their console to participate. Sony have said that this is the equivalent of around 3000 people signing up each day, or two new members each minute worldwide since March 2007.

Vijay Pande, associate professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@Home project leader had the following to say:

“Since partnering with SCEI, we have seen our research capabilities increase by leaps and bounds through the continued participation of Folding@home users.”

"Now we have over one million PS3 users registered for Folding@home, allowing us to address questions previously considered impossible to tackle computationally, with the goal of finding cures to some of the world's most life-threatening diseases. "

"We are grateful for the extraordinary worldwide participation by PS3 and PC users around the globe”

Regardless of which console you have or support, this is great news.

Source: CVG

This is the brand new colour ps3, set to release in Japan on March 6^th. The console will also come bundled with a new silver controller. There has been no official word of it being released in Europe, but you wouldn’t bet against it happening.

In order to avoid any colour clashes, a silver DualShock 3 controller is also set to be released in Japan on the 6^th March. A limited edition satin silver bundle pack featuring a copy of Yakuza 3 is also reportedly due on the same day.

Source: CVG

Devil 4 packs a punch for ps3 punters

Devil May Cry 4, the fourth instalment of the hugely successful series is heading to the next generation of Games Consoles this Friday. However it was revealed today that the Playstation 3 version packs a whopping 20 minute long installation time before you can make those demon heads roll.


You would think the 5GB sacrifice the game requires would lead to some type of reward in terms of shorter or even no loading times. Funnily enough this doesn’t seem to be the case, even after the installation process there is virtually no difference in loading times when compared to the Xbox 360 which plays straight out of the box.


If there installation process offers no advantage over the Xbox 360’s version, it does beg the question of what the point of it actually is.

Test justification test 1

Arguably PSN's most anticipated feature, Home has been making Sony fans giddy since it was announced back in March 2007. However, some commentators have highlighted that graphically, the game seemed a bit, well, ropey. Not any more though!

The game has been given a good old fashioned polishing, and is now looking rather nice. It even has that next-gen, rubbery sheen that's all the rage these days.

I think my home avatar should have a hat. I don't wear hats, but nobody would know that. Click the thumbnails

February will see the release of a new Nintendo DS colour. The Cobalt/black DS will be on sale alongside the other six colour types already available in the US (that’s Polar White, Coral Pink, Onyx, Crimson/Black and limited-edition Gold and Metallic Rose if you were wondering).

“Now there’s a Nintendo Ds colour to complement any outfit,” Says Nintendo.

One can only imagine what the Nintendo employees go to work wearing.

Source: CVG

Gran Tourismo 5 Prologue US release announced.

SCEA has announced that that Gran Tourismo 5 Prologue will be released in North America on the 17^th April, exclusively on the Playstation 3. GT5 prologue, developed by Polyphony Digital will be available for $39.99 on Blu-ray Disk (BD) and as a download via the PLAYSTATION Store.

The Disk version will offer extra features such as exclusive behind-the-scenes High Definition video showing behind the scenes action from the studios, with the team showing some of the background on how to create such a realistic driving simulator.

Source: CVG

Rockstar invade New York City.

The Grand Theft Auto advertising campaign is staring to get into gear as GTA4 ads start to appear in the NYC streets.

The first “ad” to be spotted is a series of “Wanted posters” featuring the face of the new games main protagonist “Niko Ballic” apparently wanted for “assault with a deadly weapon".

This is not the first time Rockstar have used the streets of New York to advertise a sequel to this mammoth series. The company has previously used massive artwork and logos from the game painted on the side of buildings.

The game was recently confirmed to launch on April 29^th of this year. We can only imagine what response this campaign and the game will receive from the public and powers of NYC.

Source: CVG

Euro 2008 scores an April release

UEFA Euro 2008 the game. Let’s face it, we all knew it was going to happen; it was as inevitable as England losing a penalty shoot-out. EA, never missing a trick has revealed that the game will see its release in April of this year. The Game which will feature all of the current teams in the competition as well as hosting a variety of lifelike stadiums will be launched just before the competition kicks off this June.

However, EA has revealed that this will not be the same as Fifa, Ea stating that the game will be;

“A more accessible, faster paced and responsive version of the market-leading EA Sports football engine."

What this means we don’t yet know, it looks like we will have to wait for a demo to find the answer.

New to the series this year is a mode called “Captain your country, which, EA explained “will enable gamers to put themselves on the pitch, earn the captaincy of their team and truly inspire their country to glory."

An Interactive Post-goal celebration will also be included so now you will be able to truly celebrate in style.

The game will see release on April 11^th on every current format known to man, and mobile if you’re truly desperate.