Halo 3 ODST

Halo 3: ODST is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft. It was released on the Xbox 360 video game console exclusively on September 22, 2009, being nearly two years after the initial release of Halo 3. Players assume the roles of elite human United Nations Space Command soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) during the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3. After the alliance of alien races known as the Covenant attack Earth, the player explores the ruined city of New Mombasa to discover what happened to their missing teammates, separated from each other as they entered the city.
Bungie initially conceived ODST as a small side project to produce in the lull between Halo 3's completion and Halo: Reach. Instead of featuring recognizable characters such as the Master Chief from previous games, the developers focused on the ODSTs. Story director Joseph Staten penned a detective story utilizing film noir settings, design, and characters. Composer Martin O'Donnell abandoned his previous Halo themes to create a quieter, jazz-influenced sound. During development, the game grew in scope to that of a full-sized game

Halo 3: ODST is a shooter video game with gameplay taking place from a first-person perspective. Although the gameplay of ODST bears a strong resemblance to previous Halo titles, the player does not assume the role of the enhanced human supersoldier Master Chief. Instead, the player controls a lone UNSC soldier, known as the Rookie. Since the player does not possess Master Chief's advanced armor and reflexes, he cannot jump as high or move as fast. Instead of the Chief's damage-absorbing energy shield, the game uses a stamina mechanic. After taking damage, the screen flashes red; the player regains stamina by resting. If the player receives more damage past their stamina threshold, their health takes a permanent hit. Players restore permanent health via the use of medpacks scattered around the game environments.
As an ODST the player has access to exclusive weapons, including a suppressed submachine gun and pistol that is a throwback to the Halo: Combat Evolved weapon.
The soldier HUD is different from the previous series, with red outlines for the enemies thanks to a new feature called the VISR (Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance). The VISR also gives you a compass and outlines important items in yellow, but has no radar. However, the aiming reticule remains. It also includes an open world environment.
The game's campaign mode can be played alone or with up to three other players. As the Rookie, the player's goal is to discover what happened to his missing teammates. After finding a piece of evidence left behind (a sniper rifle hanging on a lamppost, for example) a flashback is triggered and the player assumes the role of the missing soldier in a daytime setting. After players find the first beacon, the choice of where to go next is up to the player. This leads to the option which, unlike other Halo games, will allow the player to play the campaign levels in any order they want. Lead producer Curtis Creamer has stated that the campaign's length is similar to that of previous Halo games.
Multiplayer
In lieu of a complete ODST multiplayer option, the game ships with Halo 3's multiplayer contained on a separate disc. The 24 maps consist of the original eleven Halo 3 maps (Construct, Epitaph, Guardian, High Ground, Isolation, Last Resort, Narrows, Sandtrap, Snowbound, The Pit, Valhalla), the Heroic map pack (Foundry, Rat's Nest, Standoff), the Legendary map pack (Avalanche, Blackout, Ghost Town), the Cold Storage map, and the Mythic map pack (Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox) as well as three new maps (Citadel, Heretic, Longshore). The exclusive maps are also counted as Mythic maps and are tied into Halo 3's achievements. In addition to the Halo 3 maps, ODST will include a fully integrated version of the forge map editor from Halo 3. The Halo 3 multiplayer does not require Halo 3 to play and ships on a separate disc. Additionally, installing the second disc to the hard drive will not enable you to use the original Halo 3 disc to play with the new maps.
ODST also contains a new game cooperative game mode called Firefight. Firefight has been compared to Gears of War 2's Horde mode, where players take on increasingly difficult waves of varied enemies and see how long they can last. Firefight includes new medals as well as the ability to play co-operatively with up to three other players over Xbox LIVE or System Link. The team has a team pool of lives, which is added to after set rounds, and the game ends upon their depletion and all player's deaths. Skulls have been incorporated into Firefight as a means to increase the difficulty and provide variation. Some of the maps used in Firefight are unlocked as the player progresses through the single-player campaign, and there are a total of ten, of which three are unlockable. It is also noted that the enemy characters appearing in each wave are randomly generated, meaning players are unable to anticipate the strength of the next wave prior to its arrival. As you progress inside Firefight, you will get more and more characters to unlock. Players are awarded medals for making special kills, and individual and team scores are tracked throughout the games. Firefight also incorporates the Halo 3: ODST score, adding music that reflects the general mood of a map. Inside Firefight, the player(s) has/have a shared pool of 7 lives, which are replenished after completing special bonus rounds.

Setting
Main article: Halo (series)#Story

Halo series chronology
Halo WarsHalo: ReachHalo: Combat EvolvedHalo 2Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3 ODST takes place in the 26th century, where humans under the command of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) are locked in a war with a theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant. During the events of the 2004 video game Halo 2, the Covenant discover the location of Earth and launch an assault on the city of New Mombasa in Africa. Though the UNSC manages to repel most of the fleet, a single ship lands above the city and eventually retreats via a slipspace jump, creating a shockwave that destroys much of the city. While the rest of Halo 2's storyline follows the carrier to a ringworld called Halo, ODST focuses on the aftermath of the shockwave, where the Covenant still occupy the city.
Characters
The game's protagonist, the Rookie, is a young unnamed member of a special military unit, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, known as ODSTs or Helljumpers. ODSTs often deploy in small, one-man Human Entry Vehicles (HEVs), launched from spaceships in the upper atmosphere. During the game, the Rookie is separated from his five teammates and must find out what happened to them with the guidance of a city maintenance AI known as the Superintendent. The Rookie's teammates are Buck, Dutch, Romeo, Mickey, and Dare, a UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) agent in charge of the squad's operation.
Plot
The game begins with Dutch, Romeo, Mickey and the Rookie discussing plans for assaulting Regret's ship. Buck arrives and introduces Dare, an ONI officer who is put in charge of their mission. The team enter their HEVs and drop through the atmosphere towards the ship; at the last minute, Dare changes their trajectory to miss the carrier. The ship enters slipspace, sending a shockwave and an EMP towards the ODSTs; the Rookie's pod collides with another and crashes to the ground, knocking him unconscious for six hours. He awakens and proceeds to find clues as to what happened to his squadmates. Along the way, he discovers clues and evidence of his squad's exploits while he was unconscious.
Buck awakens after the drop and fights through Covenant to find Dare. When he arrives at her pod he finds only her charred helmet. Romeo saves Buck from an Engineer and the two resolve to get out of the city. Dutch drops near a nature preserve and helps Marines while he goes to the city. Mickey commandeers a tank and fights his way along a Mombasa boulevard. Meeting up with Dutch, the two defend an ONI base from the Covenant, blowing a bridge to slow the enemy. However, they are quickly overrun and forced to destroy the facility to keep it from being captured. Fortunately, they are evacuated by a Pelican and they make contact with Buck, arranging a rendezvous at the police headquarters. However, when Buck and Romeo arrive, they see the Pelican get shot down and crash. They rescue Dutch and Mickey, but Romeo is seriously wounded in the fight, insisting the squad to hijack a Phantom transport. However, instead of leaving the city, Buck decides to turn back and find Dare.
Back in the city, the Rookie is assisted by the Superintendent, a "dumb AI", which leads him to Dare's position. She and the Rookie team up to reach the Superintendent's data core, which possesses crucial information on something underneath the city that the Covenant are looking for. After fighting through a large Covenant force, they reach the core to find an Engineer hiding within. Dare explains that the Engineers had been enslaved by Covenant and this particular one decided to defect to the humans. It had downloaded the Superintendent's data into itself and Dare's mission is to escort it to safety. The Rookie, Dare, and the Engineer reunite with Buck and they manage to fight their way out of the city. As they fly away in the captured Phantom, the squad watches as the Covenant destroys New Mombasa to excavate whatever is underneath it.
In the epilogue, the squad is keeping guard over the Engineer in a UNSC orbital station. Sergeant Johnson then arrives, informing the Engineer that he intends to ask it everything it knows about the Covenant and whatever it is they're looking for.

Development

Design
Much of ODST's development team started work on director Peter Jackson's Halo Chronicles, during the production of Halo 3. However the failure of the Halo film and the subsequent cancellation of Chronicles meant that a sizeable team no longer had a project. At about the same time, production for Halo: Reach began, and Bungie realized that there was a window of time for the team to create a new product, what producer Curtis Creamer described as a two-to-three-hour "mini-campaign". After looking at the proposal and the budget, studio head Harold Ryan gave the go-ahead.
With a game engine already assembled, and the Halo universe fully realized, the team began honing the concept. Bungie was interested in bringing changes to the classical Halo format which had remained essentially unchanged over three games. The developers spent weeks deliberating what characters to focus on. Having players control previous protagonists such as the Master Chief or Arbiter would have brought with it story baggage and expectations. At one point, they considered making the game a Covenant-themed story about an elite strike force. Instead, the developers looked at human characters; while they considered making Avery Johnson the protagonists they settled on were the ODSTs. "The ODSTs have always been fan favorites," Bungie community director Brian Jarrard explained. "We never really got inside [the ODSTs]," Staten said, and saw that game as an opportunity to flesh out the black-armored soldiers.
Making the player an ODST required game play changes to preserve the classic Halo formula but branch it in new directions. The addition of silenced weapons and a revamped pistol were attempts to split up the functionality of Halo 2 and Halo 3's "battle rifle" weapon and give the ODSTs some unique and "cool" armaments; the sound designers ended up increasing the volume of the SMG in order to make it feel more powerful. The health mechanic was added to provide a level of tension; "it reminds you that you're vulnerable," Staten said.
With the main characters in place, the development team had to decide on a setting. "The events that unfolded on Earth is something fans still clamor for after being 'short changed' in Halo 2," Jarrard said. "Fans wanted to know what happened back on Earth, how humanity was defending it." New Mombasa's urban environments fit the intended feel of the game, as Bungie felt that the change of protagonists required a change in location: "We know the kinds of problems Master Chief solves," story director Joseph Staten explained. "He goes to ancient, alien ring artifacts, fights galaxy-consuming parasitic alien monsters and destroys alien empires [...] The ODST, they maybe take small parts in that larger struggle. But the kind of fights they usually get into are usually the kind of fights they can tackle in a day."Returning to a previous setting offered the artists new challenges and opportunities to expand the scope of the city. Having the player walk through the streets at night inspired a film noir ambiance. Color shifts and a high degree of contrast pushed the game's look beyond what previous Halo games had offered, but the team had to make sure that even dark portions of the city were playable. The entire core development team looked at commissioned concept paintings to decide how lighting schemes would affect the gameplay. The genre also influenced the character names and archetypes. The player character, for example, fit the concept of a lone, hardboiled detective. To increase the depth of the surroundings, Bungie added touches such as advertisements, trash collectors, and civilian versions of military hardware seen previously.
Bungie began development of ODST in March 2008. ODST was the first Bungie title completed in less than three years; production lasted 14 months. Since the team—numbering around 70 plus a five-person core design group—had such a small window for development, they had to prioritize features; for example, only a small new subset of artificial intelligence behaviors were added rather than completely redesigning the enemies. Because the game featured an open world that was different from most Halo missions, certain gameplay tweaks, such as revamped weapons and an overhead map, were necessary. Whereas in a traditional Halo game the designers would know from what locations players would approach groups of enemies, ODST required a different strategy. "We had to make sure we had groups of Covenant patrolling the city who could react from wherever you attack from and look intelligent doing it," Creamer said. Though the game engine remained unchanged, graphical enhancements such as fullscreen shader system and parallax mapping added greater detail and realism.
The Firefight game mode was a late addition to the game. Staffer Tim Williams built a prototype shortly after Halo 3 shipped, placing the player in a portion of a Halo 3 campaign map and fighting enemies. When development commenced on ODST, William's concept was adopted and refined. Designer Lars Bakken described one advantage of the game mode as providing a more friendly multiplayer environment than hardcore players online. The designers adopted the campaign scoring and medal system from Halo 3 to add a competitive edge.
By December 2008, the game was "representational", meaning that players could experience the game from start to finish, albeit in an unfinished state. The entire Bungie staff was pulled from other duties to play through the game and offer feedback. Among the unfinished elements was the lack of finished dialogue delivered by voice actors; story writer Joseph Staten filled in placeholder audio. The entire game was completed just before its presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2009.

Audio
Bungie's audio director Martin O'Donnell and his partner Michael Salvatori composed the music for ODST, as they have done for previous Halo games. In contrast to Halo' signature gregorian chant, there is no choral music in ODST, and no previous Halo themes make a return appearance. Two out of the game's three hours of music were packaged in a two-disc soundtrack released September 22. Due to ODST's shift to a new protagonist, O'Donnell wanted to create new music that was evocative of Halo but branched in a different direction. Because the game tells a "human story, not a cyborg story", O'Donnell said, the score was more "intimate and personal". For the Rookie's rain-slicked investigations, O'Donnell felt that a jazz-influenced approach worked best in echoing the noir atmosphere. Other characters did not have any themes written for them specifically, but rather became paired with motifs that suited them.
O'Donnell began writing the game's music while Bungie was creating the game's announcement trailer. Salvatori joined the project in February 2009 and helped complete the music chores in two months. Once O'Donnell felt they had enough material, the Chicago-based Salvatori flew to Seattle, finished arrangements and recorded live musicians. Most of the music was recorded during winter and spring 2009. Additional composition chores were handled by Bungie sound designer C. Paul Johnson and orchestrator Stan LePard. Orchestra sessions were handled by the Northwest Sinfonia at Studio X in Washington, who had also recorded the music for Halo 3.
Members of Bungie were fans of the defunct television series Firefly, and in Halo 3's development brought in several of the actors to fill Marine voice roles. Three of them: Nathan Fillion (a Halo fan himself), Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk voice the non-player characters of the four man squad in ODST. Tricia Helfer voices the ONI agent Dare; Helfer and Fillion recorded their cinematic dialog together in the same room, a rarity in voice acting. Staten said that "their performances were stronger having them together at the same time". While much of the cinematic dialogue was written by Staten, combat dialogue could be improvised by the voice actors. Adding Sadie's Story into the game doubled the amount of voice work in the game. After the voice roles were filled, Bungie licensed Fillion and Helfer's likenesses for their respective characters.

Announcements

Microsoft head of Xbox business Don Mattrick told MTV in July 2008 that Bungie was working on a new Halo game for Microsoft, independent of the franchise spinoffs Halo Wars and Halo Chronicles. An announcement of the new Halo project was expected at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2008 game exposition, with Bungie unveiling a countdown on their web site, but the announcement was shelved by Microsoft. Microsoft stated that it wanted the game to have its own event. On September 25, 2008, a year after the release of Halo 3, Bungie debuted a teaser for the new project on their web site. A full trailer was released during the Tokyo Game Show on October 9, 2008, officially unveiling the game's name as Halo 3: Recon and a release date of Autumn 2009. In an unusual approach for Bungie, the trailer was comprised of pre-rendered graphics, instead of being created using the game engine or existing assets; story director Joseph Staten explained that it was too early in the game's development to spend a large amount of time on the trailer, and it would not have allowed Bungie to add touches for fans to discuss.
In post-trailer interviews, Bungie staff members told gaming press that ODST was the last installment in the Halo trilogy. Though Bungie did not consider the ODST a full game (community manager Luke Smith compared it to The Frozen Throne, an expansion to Warcraft III), the game will ship with all Halo 3 multiplayer maps, and does not require Halo 3 to play. Smith made sure to point out the game would not be a crossover into the stealth and squad-based genres, noting "This isn't Brothers in Arms: Halo or Splinter Cell: Halo." On November 25, Jarrard announced the game had been retitled to Halo 3: ODST as a "more straightforward" description of the game.
Bungie and Microsoft first showed ODST in a playable form at E3 2009, where the game's release date and retail versions were finalized. Bungie initially marketed ODST as a title smaller in scope than previous numbered entries in the series. When the game's retail versions were announced, however, the game received a standard price of $60, which Bungie and Microsoft attributed to the game growing beyond the planned scope. "Over the course of development it got a lot bigger than we were anticipating," said Bungie's Lars Bakken. "We thought of it more as an expansion and then it grew well beyond that." Producer Curtis Creamer explained that since the development platform was stable, "we were able to create quite a bit more content than we originally thought we would". The game's length increased from original estimates of 3-to-5 hours to 8-to-10. The discrepancy was not discussed until E3 2009, when Microsoft decided it was a full game. Unlike the post-launch support for Halo 3, there are no plans for ODST downloadable content.

Release
Halo 3: ODST ships as a two-disc set. The first disc contains the campaign mode as well as the firefight co-op mode, while the second disc contains the multiplayer mode with the complete set of Halo 3 maps. Owners of the game receive an invitation to participate in the upcoming Halo: Reach multiplayer beta in 2010, while pre-orders include a token to unlock recurring Halo character Sgt. Johnson as a playable character in the Firefight multiplayer mode. The Sgt. Johnson skin is downloadable from the Xbox LIVE marketplace. This code is included only by certain retailers. A special edition "Collector's Pack" contains the game and a special ODST-branded wireless Xbox 360 Controller.
By April 2009 market research firm OTX reported that ODST was the most highly-anticipated video game, a spot it also held by late August. Before its release the title was the top-selling game on Amazon.com based on preorders alone, and spent 107 days atop the merchant's top 100 video games and software list. Copies of ODST were sold early in France. Microsoft responded by launching an investigation and threatening to ban any players on Xbox Live playing ODST before its official release; Xbox lead manager Stephen Toulouse later clarified that they would not ban legitimate buyers.
Microsoft prepared a "mammoth" advertising campaign for the game, with Entertainment Director Stephen McGill affirming that the game "is absolutely a key title to us... this is the first time we've ever done anything like this, and Halo 3: ODST is a great way to kick it off." Alongside extensive promotions through Xbox Live, online, print, and television advertising. Marvel Comics published a limited comic series, Helljumper, that features ODST's main characters. Among the other promotional material released for the game was a live-action trailer posted to the internet on September 4. The short was created by advertising agency TAG SF, with props by Legacy Effects and effects by Asylum. The short was directed by production company MJZ, who also handled the award-winning Halo 3 "Believe" advertisement. Legacy designed and fabricated weapons, armor, and a Covenant Brute costume within two weeks. The production then filmed scenes in a Hungarian strip mine for three days; the actors featured were a mixture of ex-military and special operations soldiers.
ODST launch events were held around the United States. Bungie and Microsoft sponsored an official launch event at the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle. Featured at the event were discussion panels about the series and advance looks at other Halo content such as Halo Legends. About 800 fans attended from around 6–11 pm before heading to nearby game stores to get their copy of the game.

Halo 3: ODST has garnered positive reviews. It currently holds an 86.45% and 85% average on critic aggregate sites Game Rankings and Metacritic, respectively.
Critics were split on whether ODST merited its full price as a full-sized game. Official Xbox Magazine critic Ryan McCaffrey confidently wrote that given the campaign, multiplayer mode, and second Halo 3 multiplayer disc, "no one should have any qualms about ODST’s value as a $60 offering!" Other critics who judged the title a full game included the staff of Edge Magazine, 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish, and Computer and Video Games' Mike Jackson. Erik Brudvig of IGN did not consider ODST a "true sequel", but more than an expansion, and recommended that those hesitant about buying the game do so. Those who disagreed included Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera, GamesRadar's Charlie Barratt, Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell, and IGN Australia's Narayan Pattison; The New York Times' Seth Schiesel wrote that "Microsoft Game Studios has overreached in trying to charge the typical retail price for a full game, around $60, for a product that either should cost $40 or have a lot more content for the single-player aspect of the product."
Another significant disagreement was whether the game was a large step forward for the series.
ODST's visuals and atmosphere were praised. McShea wrote that while the Halo 3 engine was showing its age, the game could still "wow" because of the art design.
The game's audio and sound were almost universally lauded. A significant departure from the consensus was offered by Kuchera, who wrote that the saxophone touches "[sound] like the softcore porn they show on Cinemax after midnight".

Intro

Modern Warfare 2 (initially known as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) is an upcoming first-person shooter video game from Infinity Ward. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game will be published by Activision and is due for release on November 10, 2009. Although the game does not share the Call of Duty series title, Modern Warfare 2 is the sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and will continue along the same storyline.

Gameplay

A "Special Forces" mode will be featured in Modern Warfare 2, comparable to the "Mile High Club" epilogue mission in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, consisting of isolated missions in a variety of settings unrelated to the campaign story. The main campaign will not support cooperative play, but the "Special Forces" mode will have a two-player cooperative option.

Plot

Modern Warfare 2 is set several years after the conclusion of Call of Duty 4. Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish will return as a non-playable character, and has been promoted to captain in the Special Air Service. MacTavish will lead an elite, multinational commando unit, Task Force 141, to counter the resurgent Russian Ultranationalist organization. The group is now led by Vladimir Makarov, a former associate of Imran Zakhaev with his own nationalistic ambitions. Makarov has been portraying Zakhaev's death as an act of martyrdom to garner support for his cause, and has built a strong power base in Russia over the years. In response to the threat posed by Makarov, the global community established Task Force 141 to stop him. The player will take on the role of Task Force member Sgt. Gary "Roach" Sanderson. Mission settings include the mountains of Russia, a desert in Afghanistan, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Development

The sixth game in the Call of Duty series was originally referred to under the working title Call of Duty 6. The official title for the game was first revealed to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 by Activision Blizzard on December 3, 2008. Activision Blizzard subsequently recanted their announcement, saying any information about the upcoming Call of Duty game was "speculative," and Infinity Ward also asserted that they had not officially confirmed their latest project. On February 11, 2009, Activision Blizzard reannounced Modern Warfare 2 and set a tentative release date for "Holiday 2009."
Voice actor Ken Lally, who has previously provided motion capture work for the Resident Evil 5 character Albert Wesker, confirmed that he provided voice work for Modern Warfare 2; his role in the game was not specified.
Infinity Ward has confirmed that they will address the issue of enemies that continually respawn at different points of a level. Also, in response to questions about the length of the single-player campaign, Infinity Ward CCO Jason West stated that Modern Warfare 2 would not be longer than the 6-10 hour-long campaign of Call of Duty 4.

Marketing

On March 25, 2009, a teaser trailer for the game was revealed at the Game Developer Choice Awards ceremony in San Francisco. The teaser was also posted on Infinity Ward's website. It announced a release date of November 10, 2009 and confirmed that the game's title of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was officially shortened to just Modern Warfare 2. The teaser was also released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and on the PlayStation Network a short time later. A second teaser was released on May 10, 2009, showing gameplay features such as snowmobile driving, guiding missiles, and an underwater mission. The teaser announced that the game would be "revealed" on TNT during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 24, 2009. The "reveal" was the first full-length trailer, which debuted extended sequences of actual in-game scenes and combat; the trailer was subsequently made available on the Modern Warfare 2 official website, which was updated for the occasion.
During E3 2009, Infinity Ward announced that a downloadable content pack consisting of two multiplayer maps will be made available first through Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 version of the game. An early campaign mission called "Cliffhanger" was also demonstrated during the E3 event, following the player character Sgt. Gary "Roach" Sanderson as he and Capt. "Soap" MacTavish infiltrate a Russian base in the Tian Shan Ranges in Kazakhstan and escape on snowmobiles.

Intro

Assassin's Creed II is an upcoming sandbox type action-adventure video game being developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft, the sequel to Assassin's Creed. It is set to be released in North America on November 17, 2009 and in PAL regions on November 20, 2009 on PlayStation 3, Windows and Xbox 360.

Gameplay

Assassin's Creed II takes place in an open world with nonlinear gameplay, allowing the player to free-roam the city at will. An article published in Game Informer reveals that Assassin's Creed II will grant the player the ability to swim and use the canals of Venice as hiding spots and will allow the player to drag city guards into the water as a means of assassination. At E3 2009, it was also confirmed by the creative director that Ezio (the character that the player assumes control of during gameplay) will be able to "drive small boats." Historical figure Leonardo da Vinci is recreated within the game, as an aid to the player who provides a host of weapons and contraptions available for use. At one point in the game, the player can access Leonardo's flying machine which he actually built, keeping airborne using thermals from fires lit by friends gathered previously in the game. The game will also feature a host of new mission types for the player to complete.
ScrewAttack reveals that there will be numerous weapons included in the game such as halberds, axes, long pikes, swords, daggers and numerous others. Six additional weapons can be unlocked in the PlayStation 3 version of the game by linking the console to the PlayStation Portable. Additionally, the player can disarm opponents and use their weapons against them. The game is stated to have a much more sophisticated combat system; the player will have to use a variety of tactics on different enemies and – as demonstrated in E3 2009 demo – can now assassinate two people at once by means of Ezio's Double hidden blades. There is also now the ability to throw down smoke pellets to aid in your escape from large groups.
The health system has been adjusted to allow for a more dynamic and participatory experience, meaning that the "memory sync" system used in the first game only helps to recharge your health up to a point. More grievous injuries will require a trip to one of the many street-side doctors, who can help you return to full strength.
As well as using water as a hiding place, the player can utilize a broader array of scenery as cover and can now blend in with any crowd rather than a group of scholars dressed in white, as in Assassin's Creed. Like in the game Hitman: Blood Money, there will be a notoriety system, and the player will become more notorious as Ezio completes more missions, however Ezio's infamy can be reduced by bribing, removing wanted posters of him or assassinating witnesses. Also, a day and night cycle has been added to the game, giving the sense of a passage of time. The game will feature some sort of economic system that makes it possible to hire services from NPCs. Ezio can steal from anyone of the NPCs, and likewise there are NPCs who can also steal from Ezio. The player can also use money to buy tools made by Leonardo da Vinci.
The trailer, which debuted at E3 2009, displayed many new things such as improved parkour mechanics. The main reveal of the trailer involved Ezio withdrawing his hidden blade to access a rudimentary gunpowder-based mechanic on his wristblade to take out a target from a distance. It has also been confirmed at E3 2009 that Desmond himself will "do more than just walk" in this game. Another feature, as seen in the gameplay video, no cover is safe, as guards can search them. To counter this Ezio has the ability to assassinate the incoming guards before detection, and placing the bodies in his former hiding location (he drags them into haystacks, places dead enemies on the bench he was sitting at between two allies etc).

Plot

The player character: Ezio Auditore di Firenze, a nobleman of Florence, Italy and ancestor of Desmond Miles.
While not much is known of the plot yet, it has been confirmed that the player will assume the role of a young nobleman-turned-assassin named Ezio Auditore di Firenze. In an interview with Patrice Desilets, the game's creative director, it is revealed that the main character's family has been killed and that the essence of the plot is to get revenge on the rival families that killed them. Like Altaïr in the first game, Ezio is an ancestor of Desmond Miles, the modern day bartender who was captured by Abstergo, with Ezio himself being a descendant of Altaïr.The character of Lucy Stillman is also said to play a larger role in this game.
He is shown to wield two hidden blades, and one of the blades has a "hidden gun" located on the same unit, but does not shoot the blade itself, but a spherical bullet with the Assassins emblem on it. The game takes place in 1486, Italy during the Italian Renaissance, two hundred and ninety-five years after the first game. Like Assassin's Creed, characters based on historical figures will be present in the game including Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, and Lorenzo de' Medici. Unlike Altaïr, Ezio has no removed fingers and he wears a wedding ring. Ezio also has numerous technical advances at his disposal brought on by Leonardo da Vinci, who helps Ezio throughout the course of the game.
Locations mentioned thus far as being included in the game are Venice, Florence, the Tuscan countryside and Rome. Specific landmarks include St Mark's Basilica, the Grand Canal, the Little Canal, and the Rialto Bridge.

Development

Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot officially confirmed that Assassin's Creed II was in development on November 26, 2008 during the company's financial performance report. This was followed by Michael Pachter speculating in GameTrailers' "Bonus Round" that game would change its setting to the events of the French Revolution, which turned out to be false.
A promotional video was released by Ubisoft on April 6 showing a skull, some hidden blade designs, and Leonardo's flying machine on a scroll.
On April 16, Game Informer Magazine released details of the game, including pictures of Ezio, a new teaser trailer was released, and the game was "officially" announced by Ubisoft.
In an interview in May 2009, Sebastien Puel stated that the development team working on Assassin's Creed II had increased to 450 members, and the development team's size had tripled since the first game.
On June 1, 2009, Ubisoft released a new 4-minute cinematic Assassin's Creed II Trailer at E3. On June 2, 2009, Ubisoft revealed first live gameplay demo lasting 6 minutes at the Sony Press Conference. GameTrailers features an exclusive developer walkthrough from E3 2009. In an interview with GameTrailers Ubisoft Montreal creative director Patrice Desilets stated Desmond would be doing more than walking around and discovering clues.

Limited editions

There will be a limited edition version of Assassins Creed 2. The "Black" limited edition release of Assassin's Creed II which will include a "Master Assassin" Ezio figurine. The figurine design features an upgraded Assassin cloak which Ezio earns in the advanced stages of the game. The limited edition also features 3 in-game bonus quests, a "Conspiracy" book detailing the game's development, and a soundtrack CD of the score by composer Jesper Kyd.

halo reach

I recently heard about this game and thought of adding it so here is a preview of halo reach

Halo: Reach is an upcoming first-person shooter video game in the Halo series scheduled for release in 2010. It was announced on June 1, 2009 at the Microsoft E3 2009 press conference. The game is a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, taking place during Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: First Strike when there are many Spartan-IIs still in action. The trailer shows a colonized Reach under attack by Covenant battleships orbiting the planet. An invitation to the open multiplayer beta of Halo: Reach will come with Halo 3: ODST.

Developer(s) : Bungie
Publisher(s) : Microsoft Game Studios
Composer(s) : Martin O'Donnell
Platform(s) : Xbox 360
Release date(s) : 2010
Genre(s) : First-person shooter
Mode(s): Single player, multiplayer
Media : DVD-DL
Input methods: Gamepad

Singularity

I saw this preveiw and thought it looked interest so I hope you enjoy this post on the up coming
game singularity heres the low down

Singularity (working title) is an upcoming video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It is set to be released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3. It was announced at Activision's E3 2008 press conference.
This title, along with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, will be among Raven's first titles using Unreal Engine 3.


GAME PLAY

The gameplay will revolve around a device, known as the TMD (Time Manipulation Device). It will be able to move a single object through the spectrum of time. It will be utilized both in classic FPS-style combat as a weapon and in Half-Life style puzzle solving. For instance, using the TMD's "rewind" function on a human opponent will send them into a "placental" state where they revert to an almost amoebic state before slowly dying. Examples of the device being used in puzzles involve sending a lock forward in time to watch it rust and crumble away, sending a broken bridge backwards to watch it return to a usable state, and sending a tree trunk forwards while standing on it as it grows to reach higher areas.
The TMD has four announced functions: Revert, Age, Stasis, and Impulse.
Revert: This allows the player to rewind an object or human backwards in time. It can be used to repair broken walkways to a new state, revert an empty barrel of oil to a full one, or turn a human into a placental state, resulting in an agonizing death. Upgrading this causes it to work faster.
Age: This allows the player to fast-forward an object or human through time. It can turn a crate that a group of enemies are using for cover into rotted wood, or turn an iron fence blocking your path into a pile of rust. Using this on an enemy will result in them quickly aging until they are nothing more than bones and dust. Upgrading this causes your targets to age faster.
Stasis: Stasis allows the player to pull an object towards them and freeze it in time. This works similarly to Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun; one key difference is that rather than the object being held by gravity, it is held because its timeline is frozen. This allows the player to, for example, grab a grenade and hold it for as long as they wish, because it will not explode. Upgrading this allows you to pick up heavier objects and pull them to you more quickly.
Impulse: Pulse functions just like the Gravity Gun's Launch function. The targeted object is sent flying violently away. Upgrading this allows it to kill smaller enemies instantly.
Raven has also confirmed the existence of another device called the "Chronolight": a "time-invariant flashlight" that allows the player to view messages or objects from the time period different to that the player is in.
Raven announced in their interview by GameInformer that the player will not have regenerating health such as shields, and will instead have a life bar. Raven believes that this will increase exploration for the game and not create a rushed experience.

PREMISE

The game takes place in 2010 and the plot revolves around a mysterious island known only as "Katorga-12" where Russian experiments involving "E99" (Element 99) took place during the height of the Cold War era. Sometime during 1950, a catastrophe of unknown nature known as the "Singularity" occurred on the island. The player controls Nate Renko, an Air Force pilot who is sent to investigate bizarre radiation emissions coming from the island only to crash land there. After regaining consciousness, he finds the TMD (Time Manipulation Device) attached to his arm and discovers that the island is constantly shifting between the time periods of 1950 and 2010. Renko's goal is to find his co-pilot, escape the island and eventually prevent the Singularity.Besides having to deal with hostile Russian forces in both time periods, the player must also deal with the hideously mutated flora and fauna of the island, some of which have actually developed time manipulation powers of their own.
Multiplayer elements have been confirmed.

Call Of Duty World At War Map Pack

I had a request about this so here is the low down on the world at war map pack.

Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack
New map pack has three new maps, as well as additional Zombie Bonus Mode content. While you wait patiently for more information on Infinity Ward's upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Treyarch is releasing some new CoD: World of War content that may keep you satisfied for a while. All you need to know is that there are plenty more zombies on the way.
According to Computer and Video Games, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of World at War will be getting a map pack next week. Don't worry PC owners, you won't be entirely left out in the cold. Treyarch says to "stay tuned for PC details as well."
The map pack will feature four new maps featuring a bombed out underground train station, a fire-bombed Berlin, an island village and a zombie asylum on the outskirts of Berlin. The latter map is an expansion of the popular 4 player co-op Nazi Zombies Bonus Mode, which should make dedicated zombie hunters happy.
The map pack will be available March 19. And if you're an Xbox 360 owner, a co-op enabled demo of the single-player campaign's Hard Landing also arrived today. Sounds exciting.

nintendo dsi

Nintendo DSi now available for Preorder!
Nintendo's DSi marks the next evolution for the all-conquering DS Lite handheld console. Slimmer, with a host of extra features that turn it into an impressive multimedia machine. The DSi will be available in either matt black or stark white, and already looks like being the best Nintendo handheld ever!

DSi Features

Skinnier than the DS Lite: The Nintendo DSi is 12% slimmer.

Two cameras: The DSi boasts a 0.3 megapixel digital camera for 640 x 480 pixel pictures, and a camera in the hinge that acts as a webcam.

You can even edit pictures on the DSi touch screens!

Downloadable DSi web browser: Surf the net on your DSi!

Play download games: Using DSWare, a new service for DSi owners that operates using current Wii Points.

DSi SD Memory Card: Replaces the GBA Slot of the DS Lite.

Improved audio options: The DSi features pitch & playback options.

Improved speakers: For better sound quality.

Extended DSi stylus: The DSi stylus is now 4.5mm longer.

halo wars

Halo Wars Vehicles part 1

Scorpion Tank

M808B Main Battle Artillery Tank (MBAT)
The Scorpion Main Battle Tank is a mainstay of UNSC forces. It is a flexible weapons platform that can take a beating as well as dish out a great deal of damage, although its main gun can have difficulty penetrating some heavy armor vehicles. Some would call it a jack of all trades, but a Scorpion can truly be the ace up your sleeve when it comes to breaking through an enemy position.
The Scorpion can be upgraded with a variety of technologies that allow it to pack more of a punch. Whatever flavor they come in, your enemy will learn to respect the Scorpion or end up under its treads.

Armament:90mm Main gun7.62mm Machine Gun
Crew:1 Driver1-2 Gunner(s)
Role:Main Battle Tank

Wolverine

Wolverine – MAAT-9 Wolverine Main Anti Air Tank (MAAT)
Wolverine is a fast moving maneuverable anti-air vehicle. In its arsenal are two pods of Argent V Missiles that are located on the left and right of the driver and gunner seats. These missiles are specialized to target and deliver their warhead to an aircraft with great speed and maneuverability. The missile pods are quite large and can be reloaded via a mechanical system in the Wolverine, which stores a small supply of missiles onboard.
The targeting systems and anti-air capabilities of the Wolverine are second to none, but it can also angle its missile pods to launch missiles at ground targets. Stationary targets and buildings are your best bets for actually hitting anything. Although air vehicles generally know to steer clear, the Wolverine is quite vulnerable to anti-armor attacks both from vehicles or heavily upgraded infantry. The driver has the use of a XM511 Heavy Grenade Launcher for defense from ground attacks, which can potentially wreck soft targets, but truly this support vehicle relies on heavier units to defend it from a determined attack.

Armament:Argent V Missile Pod X 2XM511 Heavy Grenade Launcher
Crew:1 Driver1 Gunner(s)
Role:Anti-Air

Cobra

Cobra – SP42 Cobra (MBT)
Although the Cobra has the ability to fill two roles, it is a specialized fighting vehicle. It has specialized armored panels that are designed to deflect hardened projectiles and absorb massive amounts of damage from explosive shells. Although it is not particularly fast, the Cobra is highly maneuverable. It totes around a pair of Rail Cannons on its turret that fire a high-density slug designed to penetrate enemy armor.
Alternately the Cobra crew can choose to lockdown the vehicle and deploy the larger Rail Cannon which fires a more high velocity explosive artillery shell. The sacrifice of mobility is made up for in the range advantage that elevating the big gun can offer. The artillery round is multipurpose and can cause a great amount of damage to just about anything it hits, including enemy fortifications.

Armament:2 X Rail Cannons Bombard Rail Cannon

Crew:1 Driver1 Gunner(s)
Role:Anti-Armor

Halo Wars

Image: The spirit of Fire

Halo Wars is an upcoming real-time strategy video game set in the Halo universe, developed by Ensemble Studios for the Xbox 360 game console. It is the last project to be developed by Ensemble Studios.

Gameplay

Units are built, buildings upgraded, and special abilities utilized by using resources that are simply known as supplies. Supplies may be found on the battlefield and claimed, but the bulk of supplies are generated by building special structures at bases. The more supply pads (for the UNSC) or warehouses (for the Covenant) a player has, the more income. Some buildings and upgrades may also require additional tech. When playing the UNSC, tech is acquired by building Reactors. Each reactor gives 1 tech level, however reactors can be upgraded to provide 2 tech levels. The Covenant gain tech by advancing ages using the structures called Temples. Ages are advanced just like any other technology with the use of supplies.
Each base has only a limited amount of building space, so players must balance their resource buildings with other facilities, like those used to create vehicles. The number of units and vehicles a player can bring to the field is constrained by a population limit; more powerful units cost more than one population unit. Upgrades can increase the maximum population.
Combat in Halo Wars is balanced by a "rock-paper-scissors" mechanic common in many real-time strategy titles. Ground vehicles are powerful against infantry, infantry is stronger against aircraft, and aircraft are exceptional at destroying vehicles. Each unit has a special ability accessed by using the Y button; for example, human Marines throw grenades while vehicles called Warthogs run over enemies. Each faction can also bring in special hero units, which impact what abilities and units players can access. The humans also have access to their ship, the Spirit of Fire, and its special abilites; these include a powerful coilgun, the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon or simply the MAC. The Covenant have more powerful units led by Leaders who command units on the battlefield and have special abilities of their own they can use to turn the tide of battle.
Built from the ground-up specifically for console, Halo Wars uses the Xbox 360 controller's A-button primarily for selecting units and the X-button for moving to or attacking a target. Selecting a unit gives the player the option of commands and selecting certain buildings brings up a "circle menu", the most important menu in the game, which is used for creating units and buildings and researching upgrades.

Setting

Halo Wars is set in the 26th century in the year 2531, about 20 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Development

Halo Wars was first announced at X06. Announced during Microsoft's X06 media briefing on September 27, 2006, details of the game first appeared on 1UP.com.
A small demonstration of Halo Wars was revealed to gaming media at E3 2007 on July 10, 2007 and a demo video narrated by Halo Wars' Lead Designer was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on August 27, 2007.Because previous console real time strategy games have been criticized for their control schemes, Ensemble developed the controls six months before approaching Microsoft. An update on January 30, 2007 stated that the developers were considering using motion capture. Photos of the test posted on the website show mocap being used, however it was not confirmed whether it would be included in the final release of the game. Weekly playtests are held within Ensemble to provide both the art and design teams with feedback on developments. Microsoft employees were spotted on Xbox Live playing the "Halo Wars Alpha" in April 2008 sparking speculation and jealousy among the gaming community. Ensemble later confirmed that the Alpha version was a tutorial and multiplayer version with limited features. Ensemble employees frequently played against others seeking aspects of the game to improve. In the October 2007 issue of Official Xbox Magazine, it was mentioned that there will be a playable demo of the game before it is released.
Bungie Studios has had little involvement in the making of Halo Wars. Since the splitting of Microsoft and Bungie Studios, Bungie will only be helping Ensemble Studios, the main developers of the game, and Microsoft in areas including the environment and the general "feel" of the Halo universe.

The Elites as depicted in the X06 Halo Wars trailer, with Banshees flying in formation overhead.
The game was announced at X06 with a pre-rendered trailer. The trailer was created by Blur Studio and shows a group of Warthog vehicles searching for a missing unit of soldiers. The recon patrol is killed by camouflaged Elites who de-cloak and advance into battle supported by Banshees. The battle has various human and Covenant vehicles and foot soldiers and ends displaying Spartan Group Omega wearing their MJOLNIR armor.
A video of gameplay footage narrated by Graeme Devine, the lead designer was shown at E3 2007 and later made available online. Controls and other gameplay features such as vehicles, user interface and special weapons were highlighted, along with new creations. The footage also showed off a UNSC base consisting of an airbase, vehicle depot, missile silo and several other buildings that can be created while playing Halo Wars.
On September 10th, 2008 it was announced that Ensemble studios would close after the completion of Halo Wars. A new studio formed by Ensemble employees will not only continue to support Microsoft Game Studios, but will also provide post launch support for Halo Wars.
Devine described the main challenge of the game being to get real-time strategy players to play a Halo game, and Halo fans to play an RTS.
Early in development, Ensemble considered making the Flood a playable race, but this idea never made it past the concept stage. According to Devine the main issue was that in order to balance the Flood with the UNSC and Covenant, the Flood would have to have been similar to StarCraft's Zerg, which did not mesh with the Flood's role in the games, to be "the single scariest thing in the galaxy."
The playable demo for Halo Wars is now available to the public, which became available for download on February 5. Also, redemption codes were handed out for early access to the demo starting January 29.

The ship

Exitus Acta Probat

CFV-88

Constructed: 2473

Class: Phoenix

Captain: Cutter

A.I.: On board - "Serina"

The Spirit of Fire was originally a colony ship, transporting equipment and colonists in the UNSC's expansion efforts. In 2520 the ship was refit with a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon and other armaments to serve as a warship. Huge storage bays that used to house machine parts now carry everything from Warthogs and Scorpion Tanks to construction supplies for fire bases in hot spots in front line engagements or in rearguard actions.
The campaign in Halo Wars follows the Spirit of Fire and her crew as the UNSC deals with the first deadly encounters with the Covenant.

The sims 3

The Sims 3 is the latest addition to the sims franchise, The game originally created by maxis is due for release on the 2nd of June 2009 a collecters edition will also be available. Compared to the previous versions of the sims the sims 3 will be much better as the neighborhoods will be seamless (In other words there will be no loading in between going to other places in the neighborhood)

Gameplay

Sim houses and neighborhoods will be entirely in one continuous map, and the developers state that "What you do outside your home now matters as much as what you do within." All the Sims in the neighborhoods age and live out their lives simultaneously, no matter where the player is in the game. Of the eight needs of The Sims 1 & 2, only six—hunger, bladder, energy, social, hygiene, and fun—remain (removing comfort and environment). These will be represented by moodlets—attributes which are acquired special events, such as minor events like tooth brushing and major ones like a wedding, and affect the Sims' behavior. The needs will also have only 3 stages—red (extremely low), yellow (moderate) and green (completely full.) Several minor features from The Sims 2 expansion packs appear in the original The Sims 3, such as the "young adult" life stage, personal inventories and mobile phones (University). Private cars and restaurants (Nightlife), fishing and gardening (Seasons), jewelry and beaches (Bon Voyage), toothbrushing and ceilings (Apartment Life) will be included, but none of the main features from expansion packs such as a sim going to college (University) will be available. Players will be able to buy into local businesses and, eventually, buy out other partners and own the business.
As in previous games, Sims can paint, but paintings will now be more unique to each Sim based on their traits. Other new features are set difficulty levels for each family. There are also hospitals where pregnant Sims may give birth, and bicycles for riding around the neighborhood.

Careers

Twelve careers are available to pursue (law enforcement, crime, military, science, politics, journalism, business, entertainment, culinary, medical, athletic, and gardening). Each career has a workplace building in the neighborhood, which Sims travel to for their shifts. Sims can also apply for jobs within these buildings. Though Sims are hidden inside buildings during the workday, the player can control their behavior at work to a certain extent. Like previous Sims games, the job yields "opportunities"—tasks that could be finished for a reward. There are also part-time jobs. Sims can also take actions to increase their productivity while not at work, such as bringing work home or working overtime. Each career has several rewards, instead of only one as in The Sims 2. Careers can also branch into several possible promotions. Children and teens go to school, just as before, but now they can do homework with computers.
Each career branches off into different jobs that branch off as well. For example, if there were two Sims in the Business career track, they may not end up with the same jobs or duties even if they were on the same level in their careers. Nonetheless, once the Sim(s) reaches the peak of his/her respective career they can still receive raises, rewards and additional payment if he/she keeps performing well at work.


Create-A-Sim


Create-a-Sim is the character (Sim) builder, where the polygon 3-D models of Sims can be modified by changing a wider variety of properties than what was available in previous installments. This opens the door to creating completely unique Sims with regard to weight, fitness, hair, and clothing, etc. Footwear and headwear can now be chosen individually. Players can customize nearly everything in the game, including furniture, clothes and shoes. Rod Humble described the new interface in Create-A-Sim as "drastically different". Prominent birthmarks such as freckles can also be added to Sims.
Individual fitness bars have been added to adjust the Sims' obesity and muscularity between extreme levels. Arm and legs are separate so players can create Sims with fat bodies and thin arms or thin legs with muscular arms. In The Sims 2, there were only three body types—fat, normal and fit. As in The Sims 2, body shape varies with diet and exercise, so that Sims created as overweight can become slim by exercising and Sims created thin may become fat by eating too much and not exercising. Skin color is also continuous, instead of the four colors of The Sims 2. When customizing hair, the player is shown a circle with all shades and hues of colors, and able to choose different main hair color, tips, roots, and even highlights. Texture for clothing follows a similar formatting scheme.

Sims' personalities

Personality configuration for Sims has also been made more complex, with the original 'percentage bar'-style personality points replaced by a combination of traits, similar to those in the personals section of newspapers. Toddlers have two traits, and a new one is added for each new life stage, until they reach young adulthood—so they will have 3 as a child, 4 as a teen, then 5 as a young adult, which are the five traits they will stay with for the rest of their lives.
Create-A-Sim now features over 80 unique traits to choose from. Some of these are Evil, Slob, Good Sense of Humor, Charismatic, Loner, Computer Whiz, Vegetarian, Frugal, Clumsy, Athletic, Hot Headed, Lucky, Insane and Flirty. It is not possible to give a Sim traits that contradict each other (such as Brave and Cowardly). The player can also edit many aspects of a Sims' personality, such as favorite hobby, color, music genre and food.

Build and buy modes

The build and buy modes have been revamped. The square outlines that appear on the ground (often refered to as a grid or tile)—apparent when entering build or buy mode—are now four times smaller to give the player more liberty to place objects where they want. The square grid allows the player see where they can possibly place the objects in the game. There is now an option to turn off the grid. This feature will make objects easier to locate at the player's desired location instead of being restricted to a bigger tile. Objects can also be rotated freely. Certain pieces of furniture, such as chairs and tables, can easily be moved together.
The "auto-roof" function updates the roof when walls are rebuilt. Wide staircases can be built in one action. Basements are also easier to build. A "wall drag" tool allows the player to grow or shrink a room, moving the furniture with it. A new “slot” system gives several choices where to place decorative objects on surfaces, such as tables and dressers. Most existing objects can be recoloured and re-textured.

Neighborhood exploration

On March 19, 2008, EA revealed a new feature to The Sims 3 which was neighborhood exploration. Sims can now explore the world outside their homes without having to face strenuous loading times. Every lot is now synced to the main neighborhood time, whereas before the time of day (and weather) was different in each lot and would continue off from the last time it was played. Players can also interact with every building in a neighborhood. Players can also roam around with other sims while others in the family will take care of themselves more easily.

Development

The game is developed by EA Redwood Shores. The music to The Sims 3 was written by composer Steve Jablonsky, who recorded the score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox.
On January 15, 2009 EA invited the best custom content creators to their campus at Redwood Shores where they were hosting a Creator’s Camp. Creators have been invited to spend the week exploring and creating content like Sims, houses and customized content. The Creator’s work will be used to pre-populate The Sims 3 Exchange when the game is released.

Release

The game will be released as both a standard edition and a Collector's Edition. The standard edition contains the first release of the core game, while the Collector's Edition includes the Sims 3 core game, a 2GB The Sims Plumbob™ USB drive with matching Green Carabiner, an exclusive Italian-styled/Vintage Sports Car download for in-game, a Prima Tips and Hints Guide, Plumbob stickers,The Sims 3 Neighborhood Poster, and a quick start reference guide. A preview CD with more information about The Sims 3, such as music samples and career information, will also be released later. The preview CD does not include the actual game. It is still unknown which countries will be able to purchase the Collectors' Edition, so far the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Australia have been able to pre-order the game from certain websites.
In the seventh expansion pack for The Sims 2, The Sims 2: FreeTime, an event occurs in which a Sim-version of Rod Humble, the head of The Sims franchise, gives the player's Sim family an unopened gift box. When opened, the family gets a computer with The Sims 3 on it. The Sims 3 game cannot be bought in the catalog. Sims can then play The Sims 3 on their computers or console systems. Like all the other games that Sims can play in The Sims 2, The Sims 3 is a looping game play video shown on the player's Sim's computer screens when played by a Sim. On July 15, 2008 the first video preview of The Sims 3 appeared on the official website as did seven new screenshots and five Create-A-Sim screens. Four screenshots that appeared on the website and were then taken down soon after, leaked onto the internet by a member of the community.
Copies of the video game Spore also came packaged with fliers advertising the game, with information stating whole-neighborhood accessibility and endless possibilities on character creation. On October 31, 2008, two teaser trailers were released by Electronic Arts featuring a comical view on the 2008 presidential election in the United States. Candidates John McCain and Barack Obama were included along with John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, and Barack Obama's running mate Joe Biden. In the eighth expansion pack of The Sims 2, The Sims 2: Apartment Life, new objects were added including logo posters and framed screenshots. The game was shipped with a code and an internet address, where the player could download clothing with The Sims 3 logo on it. Another developer walkthrough was released on November 6, 2008, featuring in-depth previews of the neighborhood and Create-A-Sim.


Requirements

Windows

CPU
Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent2.0GHz (XP)2.4GHz (Vista)
Memory
1 GB (XP)1.5GB (Vista)
Hard Drive Space
6.5GB of free space and 1GB for additional content
Graphics Hardware
DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA FX 5900/ATI 9500 or better) and support for Pixel Shader 2.0
Sound Hardware
100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card
Windows (using Built-in Graphics Chipset)

CPU
Intel Pentium D 2.6GHz, 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent
Memory
1.5GB (XP)2GB (Vista)

Destroy all humans path of the furon part 2

Characters
See also: List of Destroy All Humans! characters
In addition to the return of Cryptosporidium, Orthopox and the furon god Arkvoodle, the game features a cast of new characters that Crypto meets along his journey.
The Master - an old and wise furon martial arts expert, who has strong mental powers and is well trained in Psychokinesis. He was once a furon warrior who was friends with Emperor Meningitis, who crash landed on Earth while on the run from conspiring traitors back home. He longed for revenge, but while on Earth he immersed himself in Eastern philosophies and developed new Psychokinetic abilities, losing his desire for revenge.

The Master is revealed to be the actual conspirator and main antagonist.
Nexosporidium warriors (also known as Nexos) - a mysterious race of supposedly extinct cyborgs from the furon home world.
Emperor Meningitis - the emperor of the Furon Empire.
Curt Calvin - the leader of the Lunarian Church of Alientology. He is thought to be another DNA harvesting furon in disguise, but is revealed to be a Nexo Walker.
Henri Crousteau (a parody of Henri Rousseau) - a French oceanographer and environmentalist. He discovered The Master's crashed saucer in 1971, and used the technology and synthetic DNA to manufacture his own army of Nexos.
Saxon (likely inspired by John Saxon from Enter the Dragon) - a previous student of The Master who has turned from his discipleship. He wears a yellow jumpsuit made of silk and rides a Nexo Dragon.
Rolo (likely a parody of Bolo Yeung (Actor/Martial Artist) from Enter the Dragon) - Saxon's right-hand man who is self-obsessed with his pectoral muscles. He is responsible for stealing The Master's Jade Talisman, and for gathering martial arts experts for a tournament, at Crypto's request. After Saxon's death, he rises up to become the leader of the White Dragons.
Sammy and Faire (parodies of Sonny & Cher) - two singers Crypto meets in Las Paradiso.
The Molinari Brothers - Mikey is the head of the mob family that Crypto is at war with. He is in charge of the Nero's Palazzo casino, and is the one who declares war on the Space Dust. His brother Vinnie carries a bat with him, smokes cigars and he is overweight.
Endometriosis - the furon responsible for making clone body molds on the Fourth Ring of Furon, and the furon who made a major breakthrough in clone technology. Endometriosis has a French accent, and wears a barret.
Helicobacter - Endometriosis' arch rival and the furon in charge of the Cloning Industrial Island.
The Librarian - an old friend of Pox's, this furon is the Proprietor of the Humania Amusment Park, and also the furon in charge of storing highly classified genetic clone data.

Furon technology and weaponry


Weapons such as the Ion Detonator will no longer harm Crypto. Almost all of the previous weapons have been redesigned. The Ion Detonator can now stick to both people and objects, and has a larger blast radius than in previous games. The Anal Probe can now lock onto more than one human. The jet pack has a longer-lasting battery, and controls differently. The Dislocator (introduced in Destroy all Humans! 2) also returns, firing pink gravity defying energy disks that fling people and objects in many different random directions. The player may now engage in "car surfing" via this weapon, and the disks are now pink, instead of purple as they were in Destroy All Humans! 2.
Some of the new weaponry includes the Tornadotron, the Black Hole Gun, and the Venus Human Trap. Another new weapon is the Superballer, which fires out a supercharged ball that homes in on targets sending them bouncing. With each bounce, the victim takes damage, and with each impact a shock wave is created that affects anything nearby. In a reference to one of the ubiquitous symbols of the 1970s (rainbows) the vapor trail creates a spectral refraction effect akin to a rainbow.
The saucer has been redesigned, as Crypto crashed the original saucer into the Space Dust casino while drunk. His saucer can now fly horizontally and vertically and aim in all directions. Crypto can use the saucer's weapons to scar buildings and terrain. These scars remain until a new mission is started, the player travels to a different location, or in the case of a building, until its destroyed. The Quantum Deconstructor can now be charged. The saucer can abduct multiple humans, which are processed instantly. When abducted, humans slightly recharge the saucer's shields and also increase DNA.

Controls and gameplay

Due to streamlined controls, Crypto can shoot humans, use the jet pack, and activate Psychokinesis simultaneously. Crypto can now engage in aerial battles. There are now flying enemies, such as helicopters and Nexo saucers that can attack Crypto in his saucer. The player can travel to different locations "without ever leaving the game world" Buildings collapse and scar differently when attacked with different weapons. The game features a modified alert scheme with police, SWAT, military awareness, and nexo alert. Electricity surges through power lines when damage is caused to them. The player can now use Mental Lock as an accurate targeting system for circle strafing with a weapon. The player can exit and enter certain buildings freely during some missions, such as the Space Dust. The Master's monastery can be accessed at any time. There is also no fall damage in the game.

Psychokinesis

Psychokinesis is now mapped to its own trigger for easy access. Using it generates a large blue-purple glow around Crypto's hand. The Temporal Fist ability allows Crypto to stop time, manipulate objects, set up a powerful push, and then resume time. Objects can be given a directional impulse that causes the object to fly with greater force than a normal psychokinetic push once time has been resumed. PK magnet allows Crypto to magnetize any object in PK, causing several people or other objects to stick and form a ball of humans and debris. Crypto can now use Cortex Scan to prolong the life of his bodysnatched victim, similar to the ability of Cortex Scanning humans to refill concentration and keep the holobob disguise active in the first game.

Reception

Review scores
Publication
Score
1UP.com
D
GameSpot
4.0/10
IGN
3.0/10

Team Xbox
4.2/10
GameZone
5/10
X-play

Aggregate scores
Aggregator
Score
Game Rankings
41% (based on 10 media outlets)
Metacritic
36% (based on 12 reviews)
Path of the Furon was generally poorly received by critics. Several reviewers cited poor graphics. GameZone praised the new weaponry stating "The new arsenal and saucer are a nice touch but the best upgrade comes from a Furon Master that seems to have been watching one too many episodes of Kung-Fu." TeamXbox stated that the game lacked polish, saying "No, the basic gameplay isn’t all that bad—though having a series of two-player, local-only minigames under a “Multiplayer” banner seems like a stretch—but the presentation is horrid.". GameDaily also cited poor polish and design: "Crypto the alien's most recent attempt to overthrow mankind is thwarted by uninspired game design." Reviews of the in-game soundtrack were generally better. GameZone "The score is still has that sci-fi B-movie feel with a heavy dose of ‘70s-styled funk and disco tossed in for good measure." GameSpot criticized the "slow, tedious pacing" and said that some of the characters had racist portrayal. IGN said that "What was fun three years ago has now grown stale, especially in an environment so unappealing. Furon just isn’t much fun to play, especially when compared to previous games in the series.". X-Play's Morgan Webb described the game as "half-baked" and "unfinished". However, Morgan also states that the story is extremely in-depth and very good, and much of the weaponry and gameplay can still be satisfying. The game's review averages were also poor, with Game Rankings reporting a 43%. and Metacritic reporting only a 36% score.

Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon part 1

Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon(Also known as Destroy All Humans! 3) is the fourth Destroy All Humans! game to be released, and is the third game in the Destroy All Humans! trilogy, released December 1, 2008 in North America for the Xbox 360. The game was developed by THQ's Sandblast Games studio for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 console. Path of the Furon expands on the open world format of the previous Destroy All Humans! games, with five new open worlds on the ground and in the air to obliterate with new weapons and new alien powers.
As of November 26, 2008, the North American PS3 version was cancelled citing "development issues".The game will however still be released for the European PS3 on February 13, 2009, alongside the Xbox 360 release

Gameplay

Missions, side quests, and achievements
Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon has over 30 story missions, 20 side quests, and multiplayer modes. As with previous games, most story missions can be played in non-linear order. Creative director Jon Knoles stated that the side quests would be related to the story, would also be creative, and "epic". Knoles added that the achievements are tied to statistic tracking in the game, and they are unique to the weapons and abilities found, allowing the player to experiment with different possibilities. For example, IGN noted that when the player takes the "Sunny" off of the Sunnywood sign they get a cutscene and one of the more creative achievements.There are also challenges and mini-games that the player can return to repeatedly to better their score and collect more rewards. There are five new open-world locations based on Las Vegas ("Las Paradiso"), Hollywood ("Sunnywood"), Hong Kong ("Shen Long"), Paris ("Belleville"), and The 4th Ring of Furon.

Multiplayer

This game features split screen offline multiplayer. Most challenges are player versus player, although one is co-op. The maps are scaled down versions of their single player counterparts. The games are Ion Soccer, where players use their ion detonators to shoot a ball into each other's goals, Brain-O-Matic, where players PK humans into a machine that will extract their brains for processing, and Abductorama, basically a competative game of "keep away", in which the goal of the game is to abduct the ball, and keep it out of the reach of the other player until the player color fills up the bar, or get the bar filled up more than the other player and keep it like that until time runs out. There are no co-op single player missions, nor can you play through the story with co-op.

Plot

Crypto 138, having resigned his presidency and broken up with Natalya, has crashed his old saucer into a casino's electronic ticker display while drunk, and was killed in the crash. After the crash, Pox has cloned Crypto 139, and they have taken over and re-opened the casino, called the "Space Dust," (A parody of Stardust Resort & Casino) which they use to maintain a steady flow of cash and human DNA. They discover that the local mob family sent a spy to gather information on them. Crypto infiltrates the mob's casino and destroys the interior, driving out the customers, causing the mob to go to war with him. He defeats the mob, destroying their profits and taking control of Las Paradiso.
Soon he begins hearing a voice instructing him in the paths of enlightenment and how to advance in those paths. As Crypto begins to discover the potential of his powers, strange creatures suddenly appear attack. Pox identifies them as Nexosporidium warriors, whom are supposedly extinct. Crypto manages to defeat them. In an act of desperation, Pox commands Crypto to destroy all of Paradiso, including the Space Dust, to erase any evidence of their being there. Crypto reluctantly does so, and they flee to Sunnywood.
In Sunnywood, the duo assume Curt Calvin, leader of the Lunarian Church of Alientology, to be another DNA harvesting furon on Earth. To draw Calvin out, Crypto and Pox seek the help of a local reporter. Crypto rescues her after she is kidnapped by the Lunarians, and she tells him of an inside man in the Lunarian cult, known as Deep Naval. Crypto works out an agreement with Deep Naval to meet Calvin, but Deep Naval fails to fulfill his part of the bargain. Pox and Crypto then stage a "big alien arrival" at the Sunnywood Bowl to attract Calvin. Crypto confronts the cult leader and shoots him, but instead of seeing a dead furon, a nexo walker appears. After defeating the walker, Crypto is shot in the neck with a dart and faints.
Crypto awakens three days later in a monastery ran by a furon martial arts expert known as The Master. After a confrontation, Crypto agrees to become The Master's new disciple. He reveals to Crypto that one hundred years ago imperial traitors marked Emperor Meningitis for death. He managed to stop the assassination, but was in turn marked for death. Fleeing to Earth, he crash-landed off the coast of China. He sought revenge, but soon realized eastern philosophies could help him improve his mental abilities, and so immersed himself in the ways of their culture, and in the process lost his desire for revenge. He built an academy, gaining followers to pass his knowledge down to. He took an apprentice named Saxon, who became power hungry, forming a triad to oppose The Master.

Crypto converses with The Master.
The Master instructs Crypto to hold a tournament to draw Saxon out, however Crypto arrives back at the monastery where he witnesses Saxon kill the Master. Enraged, Crypto attacks and defeats Saxon, interrogating at gunpoint when nexos show up. Saxon dies in the confusion, and Crypto escapes destroying the barge. Pox states that the nexos could only have been cloned on Earth, and that only one organization could accomplish such. Pox and Crypto then set off for Bellevile, France, home of Francodyne.
In Belleville, Pox and Crypto discover that Francodyne's CEO is Henri Crousteau. Crypto infiltrates Crousteau's mansion to confront him, but Crousteau escapes after stabbing him with a spiny fish. Pox and Crypto escape the mansion and learn Crousteau intends to create a virus to destroy the furon DNA within the human genome. Crypto sets out to destroy his nexo manufacturing operation. He causes a riot between the workers and destroys the nexo laboratory. However, Crousteau still manages to create the virus and sends four walkers to distribute it into the river. Crypto destroys the walkers and faces Crousteau in a final battle at the Belleville tower. Upon defeating Crousteau, Crypto learns that he only wanted to destroy his own race to stop the planet from being polluted, that he was feeding the nexos synthetic DNA, and that he wasn't responsible for the attack on the Space Dust. The nexos that did attack were rouge ones responding to a signal from Furon. Crypto then realizes that the one truly responsible for his troubles was Emperor Meningitis himself. He and Pox set off for the Fourth Ring of Furon to confront the emperor.
Upon arriving, Crypto immediately attacks the palace in a blind rage. Outraged, the emperor kicks them out of the city and puts up a large shield. Pox and Crypto manage to deactivate it and re-enter the city. Pox reveals that since he once worked for the emperor his biometrics were still in the system, and would allow them to open the palace door. After doing favors for the molder and the Librarian, Crypto and Pox download Pox's clone data from the imperial repository, and proceed to clone Pox a new body, becoming Orthopox 14. However the molder accidentally uses the wrong body mold, and Pox comes out of the machine as a monkey. Pox informs Crypto they'll need a distraction, and to start a human riot in the artificial human habitat. As the riot ensues, Crypto confronts Meningitis, defeating him, but the emperor disintegrates from old age before he can be interrogated.
The Master then reappears from the Jade Talisman Crypto inherited from him, revealing that he was the conspirator who set everything in motion. It was he all along who had been controlling the nexos, introducing the synthetic DNA, and staging his own death. The Jade Talisman was really a cloning device used so that after Meningitis was defeated he could be smuggled in and become the new emperor. Crypto, shocked by what he has heard, becomes infuriated, and makes a motion to Pox. Pox then uses his strength to slam The Master against a wall, killing him. Crypto picks up a canister of synthetic DNA and tries it, but vomits at the horrible taste. Pox tells Crypto that as long as he cannot stomach the synthetic DNA their mission wasn't a sham, and there would always be a reason to Destroy All Humans! Crypto realizes that Pox is right, and decides to return to Earth. Pox then tells Crypto he isn't returning with him, and takes the throne. As Crypto leaves he states that he will see Pox in ten years. As he walks out of the palace, the other furons begin running in, to greet their new emperor.

guide to vista gaming

Window Vista in Brief
Microsoft’s latest version of Windows, Vista promises to usher in the next generation of PC gaming, offering a dedicated games area in the Start Menu for all Vista compatible titles, and true cutting-edge graphics performance with the Vista-exclusive DirectX-10. Couple these features with support for Xbox 360 peripherals, exclusivity for future titles like the fantastic-looking Crysis, and more security than any other version of Windows, and Vista clearly presents the future of PC gaming.
Vista Games Explorer
Windows Vista's Games Explorer menu is the one-stop spot for accessing all your favourite games.
Newly installed titles appear in the Games Explorer section of your Start Menu, allowing you to launch games, change settings, and find related info like last played date, publisher updates, age ratings and related web links - all in a few clicks!
Also including upgraded versions of Windows’ classics such as 3D solitaire and 3D Minesweeper, the Vista Games Explorer is the new one-stop portal for PC gaming.Vista & Gaming
Improved Accessibility and Control
A dedicated Games Area within the Start Menu makes finding, starting and changing the settings for games quick and easy.
The gaming area contains useful info such as the last time you played that game and links to the publisher’s website.
Vista compatible games are automatically added to the games area upon installation.
Better Graphics DirectX-10 has only been released on Vista, making this latest Windows the one and only home of true cutting-edge PC gaming graphics.
Faster PerformanceNew Windows programs work to ensure that your PC is running smoothly for a lag-free gaming experience.
Windows SuperFetch remembers which applications you use most often and organises its background processes to let your favourite games take priority.
Windows ReadyBoost improves your PC’s responsiveness, using flash memory instead of your hard drive, allowing your computer to load programs faster and cope with even the most demanding game experiences!
LIVEWindows Vista will also make it easier than ever before for PC owners to play online against people from all over the word. Using the new LIVE service, gamers will be able to take on other PC owners, starting with the launch of the Vista compatible Halo 2, and even play with Xbox Live players on Shadowrun; the first title to offer this feature.
Easier Networking
A new application called "Network Centre" makes adding and troubleshooting connections fast and painless.
The resulting network is faster, automatically optimising itself to the speed of your connection. This means faster downloads of patches and less lag in-game.
See Vista gaming in action! Click here to download the movie (zip file)
Full list of Games for Windows titles