Dirt 3 Gets Global Release Date

By Mark

The latest entry to the DiRT series has been given a global release date of 24th May 2011 across all major platforms. Here's a little synospis of the game and a trailer to boot:

DiRT 3 will boast more cars, more locations, more routes and more events than any other game in the series. With more than double the track content of 2009’s hit, players will enjoy a career as an elite professional driver, competing in off-road racing events featuring jaw-dropping damage and race-changing weather.

DiRT 3 will feature the most amount of Rally content to feature in the series to date, accounting for 60% of its extensive career mode. With rally stages set across three continents, including the addition of all-new locations Finland, Kenya, Norway and Michigan, players will learn to master the conditions on tarmac, gravel and snow in dry and wet conditions for the most authentic rally experience

 So it looks like we're in a for an all round improved experience with DiRT 3, anyone looking forward to it?

New Crysis 2 trailer says 'Be Strong'

By Mark

EA and Crytek have put out a new trailer with the emphasis placed squarely on the game's nanosuits and what they have to offer us as players. It's quite an explosive trailer and makes the action look pretty hectic when it comes to the singleplayer portion of the title.

Crysis 2 will be launching across the three major platforms on March 22nd in the US and March 25th in the UK, don't forget if you're a 360 owner to try out the multiplayer beta and see what you make of it.

Dark Souls to be even harder than Demon's Souls + Trailer

By Mark

When From Software released Demon's Souls the game immediately became infamous due to its notoriously difficult gameplay and trial and error style approach for players. You'd think that maybe with the sequel (or spiritual sequel at least) they might be a little more lenient, however you'd be wrong.

Speaking at Namco Bandai's Ignite Showcase the producer of From Software Daisuke Uchiyama told the gaming journo's of the land to expect an even more difficult title this time around. 

"We want the player to scream, yell and be frustrated,"

Is the rallying cry for the development team as he also added that it will be a "a better, more difficult experience" and that he and the team are wishing for "millions of deaths". Gotta love it when a developer sets their target as punishing us as players, although it does mean that satisfaction from completing it will be that much sweeter. 

There was also a new trailer released for the title to feast your eye globes on and here it is.



Via - CVG

Dragon Age II Demo Inbound

By Mark

Bioware are looking to release a demo for Dragon Age II for the PC version at the very least on February 23rd.

This is according to an e-mail sent to GameStop employees which outlined that their staff will be given access to the demo on February 11th so that they can become fountains of information for customers and fans of the game...

The important part for us though is that this means a demo could be coming to the public on PC and consoles, while nothing is officially announced or set in stone there's now a strong chance at least. Good news I'd say.

Source - Kotaku

inFamous 2's Morality Explained

By Mark

The original inFamous handled morailty in a rather simple manner in the sense that doing one thing was good and another bad, not all that complex really right?

Sucker Punch is looking to change it up a little in the sequel by not necessarily making it more complex, but rather making it feel more like impactful decision making.

Ken Schramm of Sucker Punch explains the new system for us:

"Karma moments from inFAMOUS [are] now represented by character driven dialogue and 3D mocap cutscenes,"

"Your conscience comes into play with the introduction of Kuo and Nix, two NPC characters. Kuo is a NSA agent working to help Cole defeat the Beast. Nix is a New Marais native that grew up in the swamps around New Marias, whose hatred for Bertrand stems from witnessing him kill her family. She is your hedonistic guide that coaxes Cole into not thinking about the consequences of his actions."

So now when playing through the game you will either be taking the advice of Kuo for the good side of things and succumbing to Nix's temptations for the evil side. As I say, not a complex system just a more altogether organic one. Here is a trailer displaying a moment where Cole rescues Nix.



inFamous 2 will be launching later this year and it's shaping up to be an all round awesome looking title, how'd you feel about it?

Crysis 2 Minimum System Specs Released

By Mark

Now, even though these are just the minimum requirements for the title it does look as though Crytek have been a little more friendly to the modern PC user as most modern rigs would be able to run this. As I say though these are only the minimum requirements and not the recommended.

What you'll need to run Crysis 2 as the bare minimum is:

• Internet connection required for activation
• OS: XP/Vista/Windows 7
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2Ghz, AMD Athlon 64 x2 2Ghz or better
• 2 GB RAM
• HDD: 9 GB
• DVD ROM: 8x
• GPU: NVIDIA 8800 GT 512MB Ram or better
• Keyboard, mouse, or Microsoft Xbox 360 controller for Windows

And there you have it, the recommended specs will of course be higher than this and when they are released I'll get them here asap.

Source - GeForce

EA 'Very Exciting' FPS Reveal This Year

By Mark

John Riccitiello (EA CEO) spoke out at EA's third quarter company conference call last night and said that the publisher had a 'very exciting' FPS title in the pipeline.


According to Seeking Alpha Riccitiello said:

"... The intention for us at least is to have strong FPS entries each year,". "For quite a long time now, I've been saying that it's our long-term goal to take back the first-person shooter category leadership."

He then went on to talk about EA's previous progress and the new title in question:

"We made strong progress in calendar '10 over calendar '09," "This year, with the trail end of Battlefield Bad Company 2 still doing well, Medal of Honor doing well, Crysis and Bulletstorm, we're clearly going to make more progress on our goal, and that's before we get to what I think is going to be a very exciting entry later in the year that we're not yet announcing."

It's hard not to think of Respawn the new studio headed by former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella that will be creating a new title for EA although a release this year would be incredibly unlikely. What about you folks? What'll it be?

Anarchy Reigns - Zero Reveal

By Mark

So we had our first look at Anarchy Reigns a couple of hours ago and now we get to see more this time in a character reveal for a cyber-ninja named Zero.

Little is given in the bio by SEGA and Platinum Games but I can tell you that he weilds two katanas which are named Onimaru and Jyuzumaru which are a ninja's best friends apparently.

Splinter Cell HD Collection Dated

By Mark

Ubisoft has now confirmed that the upcoming HD Collection of the first three Splinter Cell titles will be launching in the US on March 22nd on Blu-ray for PS3.

Fans of Sam Fisher can expect to find Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory all retweaked and made up for the PS3.

If news of just one collection isn't enough for you however, remember the Prince of Persia trilogy that was released as a downloadable HD remake a while back? Well the Prince will be joining Mr Fisher on Blu-ray on the same day in the US. As for UK release dates? There's no word on that I'm afraid as of now but keep checking back, if I know something you will.

The collections will cost you a cool $39.99.

Anarchy Reigns First Gameplay Look

By Mark

Anarchy Reigns the new online title coming from Bayonetta and Vanquish developer Platinum Games and publisher Sega has just received its very first gameplay trailer.

What is it you ask? It's a third person multiplayer only brawler, simple as that. This trailer shows off a character called Sasha who is dubbed as the 'Ice Queen' and her weapon of choice would be snow spikes of all things. Goes to show snow isn't always fun, hit up the trailer below.

Project Dark Is Now Dark Souls - Flood of Details

By Mark

Set to be the successor to the infamously hard Demon’s Souls it has now been revealed that the former Project Dark has been renamed to something a little closer to the former game and is now entitled Dark Souls. Aside from the name change there has been a flood of details courtesy of Japanese gaming magazine giant Famitsu and some people over at NeoGAF have set about translating it.

So what do we know now?

- This time they want to increase the amount of field exploration in the game.

- All fields are seamless, so whatever you can see, you can reach and explore. If you see a fortress or castle walls in the distance, you can eventually get there.

- There will be no map display in the game, just a position display marker.

- They aim to make the game just as challenging than Demon's Souls, but also just as rewarding when you succeed. The sense of achievement is important.

- The gameplay will be similar to Demon's Souls in concept, where it's about trial and error and learning from your mistakes to play better.

More details after the break (lots of information)

The Old Republic 'Flashpoints' Trailer

By Mark

With no 'official' date yet in place and just a 'maybe September'-ish release date to go on Bioware have released a new trailer for their upcoming MMO The Old Republic to give fans something to look at while the wait goes on.

This latest piece of media showcases 'Flashpoints' which Bioware describe as such:

"Flashpoints are action-packed, story-driven adventures that test a group of players to their limits, putting them up against difficult foes in volatile situations. You and your group need your wits, your skills, and all your resources to emerge victorious.

Aside from this it was also said that:

"Every Flashpoint begins with an exciting story and contains difficult decisions - choose carefully, because your group's choices have a meaningful impact on the challenges you'll face, the enemies you'll fight, and the outcome of the story! All the danger is certainly worthwhile; the rewards from Flashpoints are some of the most powerful you'll find."

As I say no date is set in stone just yet but when there is you'll know rest assured.