Battlefield 3: Aftermatch Launch trailer

The Latest Battlefield 3 DLC is out now on Playstation 3, offering 4 new earthquake ravaged maps, new vehicles and all new weapons including a crossbow.

 Release dates are as follows:
Playstation 3 Premium players 27th. nov,
Playstation 3 Normal players 11th. dec.
X360 & PC Premium players4th. dec.
X360 & PC Normal players 18th. December


Check out the launch trailer below.

Bioshock Infinite not to feature multiplayer

Bioshock creator  Ken Levine has  recently confirmed via twitter that Bioshock: Infinite will not contain a multiplayer mode.

After the somewhat disappointing multiplayer in Bioshock 2 and the various staff changes at Irrational games it probably doesn't come as a great surprise. If this means more time and resources are devoted to improving the main game rather than making an additonal multiplayer mode it can only be good news for the fans.

Bioshock Infinite is due for release in February next year.

Nintendo Tvii coming to 'selected regions' in Europe next year

After initially being announced as US and Canada exclusive feature, a listing on Nintendo UK's site has confirmed that parts of Europe will be getting this feature too.

In the US Tvii gives users an interactive programming guide for their cable and satellite shows as well as video apps like Netflix etc. It will be interesting to see if this just works with freeview in the UK and what other video apps are included. Keep checking out the blog for more info  as we get it.

Mass Effect 3 Omega DLC launch trailer

The newest single-player DLC for Mass Effect 3 launches tomorrow on Xbox and Wednesday on PS3 and what better way to make people forget about the game's original ending then to wow people with a new story heavy trailer.

The story line of Omega focuses on Shepard having to team up with Omega leader Aria T’Loak  to take back the station from the loveable bunch at  Cerberus. The trailer seems to feature new enemies (including a new Reaper) in what look to be four action-heavy missions.

This is the first look into the future of the Mass Effect series - being created by developers Bioware Montreal, the developer that recently announced it is working on a brand new Mass Effect Game.

Trine 2 Director's Cut stunning new launch trailer

Developers Frozenbyte post a launch trailer for their stunning eshop title Trine 2 : Director's Cut. This seems to be one of the few Wii U launch ports which has significantly improved visuals over its Xbox counterpart, check out this fantasy themed beauty below.

007 Legends developers Eurocom massively reducing staff

It emerged last night that Eurocom will be implemeting massive lay offs and reducing their staff from 150 developers to just 50 by the end of the day, according to a statement from studio director Hugh Binns.

"Eurocom are undertaking a restructuring which I regret to say has meant we've made the majority of our workforce redundant today," he said. "This includes many very experienced, talented and highly skilled employees, and we'd like to thank them all for your hard work and efforts.
"We've fought to try and save as many jobs as possible, but the steep decline in demand for console games, culminating in a number of console projects falling through in the last week, left us with no option.
“Eurocom has retained a core staff of just under 50 employees and will be focusing mainly on mobile opportunities moving forward."

Given the overall critical response to 007 Legends I can't say it's too surprising, but it's always a sad day when the industry is hit hard and people lose their jobs.

New Metal Gear Rising Revegance Screens Surface

 Check out more screens of everyone's favourite whiny cyborg ninja in action.

Resident Evil Revelations coming to PS3 and 360?

According to this post on the Korean ratings board, the game has  been rated for release on Xbox 360 and PS3.

This is still one of my favourite 3DS games and didn't sell quite as well as I feel its tense return to survival horror deserved. It is rumoured that this will be a downloadable title, but we will wait for Capcom's official statement. Stay tuned for more info.

UK Black Friday gaming deals

Being from London I can't help but feel jealous every year when Black Friday comes around and I see our friends over the pond get some absolutely killer deals on just about everything. Well this year Amazon UK are giving us some of the festive fun and some pretty good gaming deals have popped up.

Black Friday deals here

Keep an eye on this page as new deals are added daily, the just released Hitman Absolution for Xbox and PS3 is only £22.99!

Rocksteady working on game for next gen Sony system

Arkham Asylum and Arkham City developers are hard at work on on a game for the next gen Sony system in their London studios as we speak ( well, it's midnight so probably not..)

A developer has confirmed to my source that since August this year they were given the new Sony hardware and have been hard at work on an unconfirmed title ever since. Sony apparently take the security of their next gen dev kits incredibly seriously and even asked Rocksteady for an entire floor plan just so they could be sure of it's whereabouts at all times.

My source should be speaking with the developer in the coming weeks so I will try and get some more info as soon as I can.

DMC demo Impressions

From its very first reveal western studio Ninja Theory's Devil May Cry reboot  has been met with the harshest criticism from long time fans. This game has had an uphill struggle to prove itself to the DMC die hard, who even after all manor of positive previews from the gaming press have already decided that the franchise has been ruined by its latest installment. Ninja Theory have finally clamored to the fans and released a demo - but does it live up to the series previous high benchmarks?

What immediately struck me when I first booted the demo was the intriguing modern day story setting. It turns out that demons control the world in which we live, subduing us with energy drinks, spying on us through our camera systems and brainwashing us through news networks ( the broadcast shown ironically was very reminiscent of fox news). It turns out that Dante is half angel and half demon and so he joins his twin brother Virgil's resistance movement to free humanity from its enslavement. It's not exactly oscar worthy writing but the initial cutscene definitely peaked my interest - the whole Illumanti/ resistance/ secret world vibe is a cool and original take on modernising the franchise.

 After the initial cutscene you find yourself in a bright and colourful demon limbo world that exists  between the demon world and our own. If you've played Enslaved you will notice that Ninja Theory's love for vibrant and colourful worlds is still here, albeit with a suitably gothic DMC twist. What really matters here ,however is the gameplay.

The first change you'll notice is that there is no kind of target locking system, this sounds like it would make combat a complete disaster  but 90% of the time I was attacking the enemy I wanted to 'target' thanks to the new 'demon pull'  and 'angel lift'abilities, which allow you to pull enemies toward you and launch yourself toward them respectively . The combat feels quite varied and very fluid, more Bayonetta than Devil May Cry 4 ( which definitely isn't a bad thing in my book) and I found myself putting together combos and getting some A ranks relatively quickly as I settled in to the new combat system.

The majority of the rest of the level sees the demon world try to destroy you by changing shape and therefore causing you to jump over things quite a lot. The platforming is fine in this game, if somewhat unintuitive - it feels pretty standard and if anything a bit clunkier than in Enslaved. I'm interested to know how much platforming has been squeezed into this game, if it is varied and not too regular it could create some pretty awesome set pieces and break up the combat sections nicely.

After the main demo section is completed I checked out the second option on the menu screen which drops you into one of the games' boss battles. It was fun and the boss looked great but wasn't hugely original or inventive. What I really liked about this section was the banter between the boss and Dante - instead of the usual arch villain world destroying speech and the hero's self righteous replies it was quite refreshing to hear them throw cheap insults at each other and to see the game writer's not taking the game too seriously.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the DMC reboot demo, the game definitely felt like Devil May Cry but the intriguing real world story setting and updated combat really make it feel fresh and relevant in a post Bayonetta world. Obviously this demo was only two brief sections of the game but the overall mechanics seemed enjoyable and solid. Have Ninja Theory made a successful DMC game? From what I've seen I would emphatically say yes.

So the Wii U has been out in the U.S for 3 days... but are you still excited for the EU launch?

          Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime presents the first retail sold Wii U console

I am always a sucker for the launch of new consoles. I  love the build up to launch day - reading the previews,  the inaccurate rumours,  the message board meltdowns and just generally devouring every tiny detail I can about the new system. The Wii U has been no exception,  I have been following it somewhat obsessively since just before E3 this year - and last Sunday the console finally arrived...in America.

If you have visited any gaming sites in the last few days the chances are you will have been bombarded with Wii U launch related stories, reviews and features - hardly surprising for a new console launch  right? What may surprise you however, is that many of these initial articles and reviews have been wrought with negativity and disappointment.
From  mandatory 5gb day one updates,  to reports of painfully slow transitions between apps on the OS and even some people's consoles' being bricked - it's pretty safe to say that is hasn't exactly been a smooth launch.

After hearing how problematic the launch has been I was obviously feeling pretty unenthusiastic about the Wii U and was wondering if all the ridiculous hype that had been built up across the net ( and by my own ridiculous expectations) had been severely misplaced.

 Over the last few days however the mood around the Wii U has seemed to shift.
Looking through the comment sections on gaming sites such as IGN or browsing through Neo Gaf I found lots of people really praising the gamepad and the way it changes not only how you interact with games, but how you browse the web and view films etc.

                       The Wii U - making the sharing of parrots easier since 2012

The more I read similar posts about  how fresh this gaming experience is and more importantly how much fun people are having with the Wii U the more I remember why I fell in love with gaming in the first place. The countless articles and posts that have mentioned how ituiative and entertaining the asymmetrical multiplayer is on Nintendoland just makes me picture some potentially awesome drunken Wii U gatherings, which I think alone is worth some of theses small ( and some likely temporary) issues people seem to be having with the system.

                             Seriously - drunken five player Nintendoland cannot fail to be a blast

My brief hands on with Zombi U was also hugely impressive and the gamepad genuinely made the game world  feel far more immersive - imagine a Metal Gear or Metroid title utilizing similar mechanics .

                                                        
This is before I even take into account the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Nintendo's  social network/online service/crazy forum hybrid: Miiverse. This entirely unique and unashamedly  Nintendo offering didn't seem to be much more than a messy Mii Led status update intially, but people seem to be having a great time with it.  Kotaku even go as far as saying 'Nintendo’s Miiverse Isn’t Xbox Live. It Might Be Something Better.'  The video below really shows how much potential it has. I still think no cross game chat is a huge missed opportunity, but the level of user interaction here and creativity that is encouraged looks totally unique and exciting.

                                   

 

Kotaku's Miiverse walkthrough video really shows the system's potential

 Although there have been a bunch of issues with the Wii U's US launch and a disappointing lack of obvious system features (cross chat, transferrable account system etc) am I still planning on getting a Wii U when it launches here? Yes - and I think it really will offer an exciting and interesting new way to play games of all types (for RPG's the gamepad will be a godsend!) and view media. Will it be a future proof console that will compete with the inevitable next gen systems from Microsoft and Sony? Probably not, but this system offers a wealth in potential new ways to play and even improve existing games ( if anyone's seen the Watchdogs trailer you know that was made for Wii U!) and most importantly - it looks to be a whole lot of fun. Roll on November 30th.