Back in March, Bungie Studios trademarked the name ‘Bungie Aerospace’. Now, a teaser website, BungieAerospace.org, has appeared with a countdown timer and the word’ Tru7h’, in which the 7 links back to Bungie’s homepage. The timer should expire on December 5th, so hopefully we will get some sort of resolution as to if this is a real teaser site or some fan-hoax. Bungie Aerospace has long-thought to be a new game engine being worked on by the company, but nothing official has been announced – for all we know they could be working on a flight sim (not likely). There is an actual website for Bungie Aerospace, which further pokes holes in this teaser site’s credibility.
In the page source of the alleged teaser site, the following can be seen in the comments: COde ErrOR: 931.461.60231.14.vt920, Please REBOOT to FiX…
If anyone has any leads on this, let us know in the comments or at our tip line!
The pick for our 2010 Game of the Year is Rockstar Games Red Dead Redemption. Developed by Rockstar’s San Diego studio, Redemption is a riveting tale of a former outlaw drawn back into a world of corruption in order to save his family. The game fully-immersed players into protagonist John Marston’s Old West life, featuring open-world gameplay a la Grand Theft Auto 4 and third-person shooter mechanics, both on horseback and off. With a wide array of characters to meet and quests to complete, Red Dead Redemption turned even the most cynical gamers into fanboys.
Not content with the base game alone, Rockstar Games has released several expansion packs, including the zombie-filled ‘Undead Nightmare’ pack, which have all been very well-received.
With 2010 rapidly drawing to a close, we here at GamingShogun.com are taking a look at our most anticipated titles of 2011. However, there was a catch in writing up a list like this. Sure, we could go with the really popular titles like Gears of War 3 or just list out hundreds of titles as not to miss anything being released next year – but, no! We will not do that. This is a highly-focused list of our five most-anticipated titles, regardless of platform. It was a tough call on some of these, but that is the price of brevity.
Take a look at our five most-anticipated titles of 2011, After the Break!
#5 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Developer: Bethesda Softworks Platform: X360, PS3, PC Due out: November 11th, 2011
Another classic series making a comeback this year, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim picks up where Oblivion left off, this time in the kingdom of Skyrim. The game utilizes a brand-new, internal engine not seen before in past Elder Scrolls games. Skyrim is a mountainous land, with snowy peaks and frosty valleys. The Nord race hails from Skyrim and all of this combined should make for a very visually-stunning environment. Hopefully, Bethesda will leave out the level scaling this time!
#4 – Deus Ex: Human Revolution Developer: Eidos Montreal Platform: X360, PS3, PC Due out: March 8th, 2011
A classic Windows PC title, Deus Ex was an amazing RPG experience that had a marked effect on how the genre would evolve on the platform. The game featured multiple ways of dealing with just about every mission presented and even had several endings depending on the player’s actions. Human Revolution is actually set 20 years prior to the events of Deus Ex, and looks to correct the so-so experience which was Deus Ex 2: Invisible War. In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, players take on the role of a security officer looking to uncover the truth behind a brutal attack. The only questionable note here is that Warren Spector is not behind this project.
#3 – The Last Guardian Developer: Team Ico Platform: PS3 Due out: Q4 2011
This is the Team Ico’s first game since the highly-acclaimed Shadow of the Colossus and is a very intriguing title which promises to explore the developing emotional connection between a young boy and a gigantic, monstrous creature. Over the course of their adventure, the two will have to overcome several puzzles and tasks. As the young boy, players will have to command the creature by using its ‘natural behavior’, such as following thrown objects, eating prey, etc. Plus, the game is being designed by Fumito Ueda, who was also the designer of Shadow.
#2 – Mass Effect 3 Developer: Bioware Platform: X360, PS3, PC Due out: Holiday 2011
This third part of the Mass Effect trilogy sees the Reapers finally invading Earth causing, as the debut trailer’s main character lays out, millions of casualties in the first day alone. One of the most intriguing things about Mass Effect 3 is that it will pull in what is estimated at over 1,000 variables from the player’s Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 experiences to uniquely alter the universe based on those past decisions.
#1 – The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Developer: CD Projekt RED Platform: PC Due out: May 17th, 2011
CD Projekt RED’s follow-up to the popular action-RPG from 2007, The Witcher. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings takes monster hunter and protagonist, Geralt, on another adventure with very mature themes and situations. Rumor has it that the timed mouse-click system of combat from the first game has been overhauled as well as the graphics engine, meaning that all of that virtual cleavage is bound to look even better than before. Just checkout this internal video presentation on the title!
So there you have it, our five most-anticipated titles for 2011. Sure, we could make a list of fifty if given the chance – Star Wars: The Old Republic, Diablo III, and even Gears of War 3. However, that would be too easy – limiting yourself to the top five ups the difficulty factor significantly.
What are your most-anticipated titles? Tell us in the comments below!
Tecmo Koei has announced that its upcoming actioner, Dynasty Warriors 7, will be hitting the North American gaming market on March 22nd, 2011 with a European appearance beginning three days later on March 25th, 2011. The company also released a plethora of additional game information pertaining to story, characters, and more – take a look at the ‘Via’ link below for more on that.
To all our readers out there, thanks so much for your support. We wish you all a great holiday weekend and hope your wants and desired get answered in full. See you Monday with more gaming news!
I know what some of you are thinking, this is a gaming website not a comic book club. But, let’s face it, TRON was a world based off of video games and is a phenomena that crosses mediums and geekdoms. What caught me off guard was how far that bridge spanned. 20 Earth years (grid time goes faster and is measured in CPU cycles) since the first story? Wow! That alone could take up a movie and some might say should have. But, instead of going the route of a trilogy, the storytellers decided to dive into other ways to tell the story and TRON: Betrayal was born as two over-sized comic books. Soon it became obvious that though everyone knew the name ‘Tron’, a whole generation of people missed the experience of the first movie and really had no clue about its plot. So, TRON: Betrayal became a graphic novel with a prologue to help folks who were basically coming in at the end of a story.
Why Should You Bother? To this question I like to point at the Star Wars saga. There was a whole generation of movie goers whose first experience with Star Wars was The Phantom Menace and ended with Revenge Of The Sith. They consider themselves Star Wars fans, though maybe they cared a little less for the third movie because it was a bit of a downer (editor’s note: As was TPM! :p). Now take the generation who sat as kids breathless in the theaters as the imposing figure of Darth Vader confidently strode through boarded enemy vessels and choked people from across the room. We wanted to know it all: How this land came to be like it was and what would happen next? And, they gave us… comics. Lots and lots of stories that a lot of people have never heard but are now an integral part of Star Wars lore. Eventually they gave us books and another set of movies, which we sat through despite Jar Jar because we knew in our hearts the dark days were coming and the boy would become a Sith Lord. Parents wondered if their children would have nightmares from this movie, an older generation – one that knows Han shot first, got goosebumps as the black-clad golem took it’s first breath, a breath that had haunted us since childhood, albeit in a good way.
That is kind of how TRON is. It could have been left alone, its own entity, but we needed to know more about the Grid. We weren’t satisfied with a happily ever after. We needed our tales of struggle leading up to that moment, and got it in the form of TRON video games, we needed to know what happened next and got hints of it from comics and yet more video games. For us, who were kids and watched the MCP, Flynn, and Tron come face to face (The Good, The Bad, and The User) in a final showdown, a new movie was made called TRON: Legacy. We are getting a chance to see how the Grid turned out… wait wait wait, 20 years later?? We missed the building of yet another empire and have come upon another corrupted ruler? How did this happen? And that is why TRON: Betrayal was made and why everyone who never got to experience the first movie with a child’s heart or who needs to know what happened to bring the Grid once more to a darkened place from that upbeat ending so many years ago should read it.
Graphics/Storyline: Excellent graphics with a well written storyline. The artwork of old TRON is meshed nicely into the new TRON and an evolution is shown that takes the characters from that long ago tale to the story we see today. It is purposely not a complete bridge – in order to complete it, you need to play TRON: Evolution video game which continues the story of Betrayal and links it into Legacy (though, if you really, really need your lore you have to play all platforms of the game since each one got a slightly different piece of the story and you need to pick up the iPhone apps… they didn’t miss a trick) but at least it will satisfy most of your curiosity.
Price: It is a well put together 128 page graphic novel for $9.99. Kind of hard to beat that with a stick.
Last Call: I wanted to let people know there was a graphic novel that could serve as the bridge between the stories enough to satisfy most people or summarize the first movie enough for those who didn’t get to experience it in younger days when the world of computers were more magic than technology. Most who see it now with today’s knowledge have often found the movie boring, not getting it the way a kid would back then. So Programs, the time to catch TRON: Legacy is now before it is derezzed from theatres. The Grid is ours again, the light cycles await their riders and TRON: Betrayal will help get us from the land of users to the world of Kevin and Sam Flynn.
With the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s real-time strategy title, StarCraft II, came a number of ‘SCII’ themed peripherals to go along with it. While some are trivial, Razer has a line of themed hardware for gamers to make use of. In this review, we take a look at the company’s Marauder gaming keyboard.
Official Razer Marauder Specs: * Full Keyboard Layout with integrated number pad keys * Ergonomically Optimized Wrist Rest * Reduced Desktop Footprint * APM-Lighting System * Laser-etched Keys * Optimized Key Travel & Spacing * Ultrapolling (1000Hz Polling / 1ms Response) * Braided 7 Foot USB Cable * Dimensions: 400mm(L) * 182mm(W) * 32mm(H)
Razer’s Marauder features a solid construction and, for its build quality, is of a surprisingly small size and weight. Measuring 15.7 inches long and 7.1 inches wide, the keyboard is smaller than most gaming keyboards on the market, which usually feature large arrays of programmable keys. With the Marauder, which was designed with LAN party form in mind (being smaller means taking up less desk space and less taken up space means you can fit more people on a table, etc), it is case of form playing a large role in the design as well as function.
In fact, the company has gone so far to maximize the use of a minimal amount of overall space that the arrow keys have been embedded within the numeric keypad. The good thing about this keyboard’s smaller dimensions is that it will take hardcore RTS gamers less time to traverse the keys. While most casual gamers will not utilize this enhancement, for those gamers that participate in StarCraft II tournaments and other pro and semi-pro gaming events, they will appreciate it.
The Marauder also features Razer’s APM (actions-per-minute) lighting system, a system in which allows the keyboard to light up in various colors and patterns depending on what is happening within your game session or just how fast you are typing on the keyboard in general. This technology has been implemented on all of their StarCraft II peripherals. The included software suite allows players to setup the lighting scheme they want to have illuminate depending on the game event. Not only can it be set to change color as the rate of your key-presses increases but, for example, you can set the keyboard lights to shine yellow if an allied player is under attack and then switch over to red if your base is under attack. In the heat of battle, especially in those really frenetic sessions, players can lose situational awareness of what is going on across the theatre of war. This lighting system is a VERY helpful tool for keeping up on current events.
The keys of the Marauder are wonderful to type on as they are coated with a supple rubberization that has to be felt to be believed. I have never used a keyboard with this kind of coating before (at least, to this effect) and hope it starts a trend – very comfortable on your fingers. The one aspect of the keys which proved difficult for me to adjust was the spacing of the pressable area of the keys. The Marauder features tapered keys and this tapering makes the space between keys a little different than your usual, run-of-the-mill keyboard. Razer touts this as ‘optimized travel key distance’. Maybe for some – not for me, at first. After a couple days of usage I was able to adapt to the separation but still did not see much of an improvement in my scores with it. Also, unlike most of Razer’s keyboards, the Marauder does not feature a USB pass-through port on it.
Over the course of my reviewing the Marauder, I ran it through play sessions of everything from Combat Mission Shock Force to Call of Duty: Black Ops. The keyboard was a joy to use no matter the game genre. During StarCraft II playthroughs the APM lighting was very fun and helped keep me up on in-game events quite well. Also of use is the ability to record macros on-the-fly. This makes repetitive keyboard tasks much easier to palate and is a wonderful add-on to an already-solid keyboard.
Overall, Razer’s Marauder gaming keyboard is a very well-built unit with lots of features. While its price is somewhat debatable at about $120 dollars, especially considering the lack of a USB pass-through, it is not that much more expensive than other premium gaming keyboards on the market and the StarCraft II theme is very cool to behold – especially when coupled with the APM lighting. If you are a fan of the StarCraft series or just in need of a good LAN gaming keyboard, you could definitely do worse.
Kalypso has released some new screenshots from their upcoming hero-killing epic, Dungeons. In the game, players build and defend dungeons from traditional fantasy heroes. The game is due out in March of 2011 on the Windows PC platform.
Checkout all the new screenshots, After the Break!
Just reading the specs on the Razer Banshee StarCraft II gaming headset and the box’s promises of performance were enough to earn it the nickname ‘The Headset Of Awesomeness.’ I needed to get some work done on my computer before I gave it a run and I was showing off pictures of the headset on my phone like a proud new father and everyone was either utterly excited or filled with envy. This headset not only looks awesome, sounds amazing and has the most comfort I have ever felt in a full sized headset, it IMPROVES your game. It never comes out and makes that promise on the box or in the instructions but, if used properly, that is exactly what they can do. How many headsets can you say that about?
Looks: This headset looks like it came right out of the game. It is easy to imagine a crewman on the Hyperion wearing something that looks just like it. Don’t know what the Hyperion is? Don’t worry about it, just know these are futuristic looking with three sections of lighting: the logo, side-strip and under-glow. Each one can be independently colored using a 48-color palette or by creating a custom color and storing it in one of 16 custom color slots. So you could. for example. have the logo pumpkin, the side strips violet and the underglow green if you wanted to give the headset a very unique look. Honestly it is fun to just play with the colors, maybe make them match your favorite sports team or your guild colors, the sky is the limit. The lights are bright too, I was able to read my authenticator by them in a dark room and there were reports from the other end of the house of strange colored lights coming from the computer room. This actually plays into function as I will mention later in the review. I expect that future StarCraft II tournaments will be filled with these headsets in various colors (maybe sponsor’s colors?) and fans of StarCraft or heck just gaming in general busting these out in airports and computer labs as they blast through their favorite game. I find myself constantly trying new combinations.
Comfort: This can be a serious concern when it comes to marathon gaming sessions. If you plan to pull an all-nighter, the headset had better be pretty comfortable or you may have to take breaks just to get some relief. The designers seemed to have taken this into consideration as well because not only is there padding on the ear cups but there is also padding on the top bridge. This gives the sensation of putting on comfortable earmuffs more than a headset. Also, we all know how much wear the ear cups on headsets take from being taken on and off or pulled back to hear what someone in the room is saying. Not only is the padding on the Banshee’s ear covers durable they are also removable making cleaning or replacement a breeze (this also allows for easy access to the ear piece section in case the speaker or lighting requires repair).
Durability: Above, I mentioned the ease of removing the ear padding, they snap back onto metal posts to prevent the posts from possibly breaking off. It seems most of the Banshee’s parts were designed with durability in mind such as metal rails for the extensions, thick part connections and even nylon parachute cord wrapping on the headset cable. The sections are screwed together as well to prevent anything from breaking off or coming loose.
Sound Quality: I tested the Banshee on several different games and in every case was incredibly impressed. I played games I had played for years and noticed sounds I didn’t know existed. The downloadable configuration software allows you to equalize and tune all the different aspects of the sound and the sound isolation is exceptional. I wouldn’t even have the sound up very high and still had to pull back one of the ear cups to hear when someone spoke to me in the room. You can run diagnostics and microphone tests to maximize performance. The sound and microphone levels can also be adjusted and muted right next to the ear cups, one on each side.
Functionality/Gameplay: This is not a normal category when it comes to gaming headset reviews, but then again this isn’t your average gaming headset. The Banshee is not just designed to let you hear a game, it actually interacts with StarCraft II to improve it. It does this through its own custom configuration that detects events in the game and signals the player in customizable ways. For instance, maybe a player wants to speed up their gameplay to make sure they remain competitive. The Banshee can detect how many actions-per-minute (APMs) you have are making and let you know if you are falling below or exceeding the limits you choose. If you are new you may want to make sure you are between 50 to 100 APMs, if you want to be professional tournament competitive, this will help let you know it you are running between the 250-300 APMs necessary. The Banshee doesn’t even come close to being done there. You can also make it so that the headset alerts you to when your base or units are under attack, building, training or upgrades are complete, resources are exhausted and many other options. Some might argue that the game already gives you in game alerts about all these things so why would you need the headset’s notifications? Because the headset gives you customized alerts using it’s lights. So let’s say you are listening to music while you are playing and your base gets under attack or maybe you have the game sound down because you are using a team talking program. The headset can be designed to flash red 5 times, for example, to let you know that your base is under attack or flash green twice when one of your units gets peoduced. The lights are bright enough that you can see them flash next to you and onto your computer and screen to alert you to different events each in a customizable way. Also it shows you your APMs by the color it turns when there are no alerts. These colors can be changed but default set if you have a blue light to your headset you are going less than 50 moves per minute and if you get it going white you are breaking 350 APMs. So, as you play, you strive to get your headset to change a different color thereby increasing your actions-per-minute and your game in general. All this makes it so that you can speed up your gameplay and improve your situational awareness dramatically. I hope that new Razer Banshee configurations may come out in the future to interact with other games, I would love to be able to tell by the color of the lights how much DPS I am doing or flashes telling me the healer is taking damage.
Plays Well With Others? When you are purchasing a high-end headset you want it to not just work well with your favorite game or the one it was designed for, you want it to be a universal tool. This headset worked excellent with dozens of games and programs I ran tests with. There were three issues I found in my entire testing of the Banshee. Sometimes in other games’ cinematic cut-scenes the sound went out. Sometimes some website’s audio automatically went through the computer’s speakers instead and sometimes after start up the configuration program won’t find the device. In all three cases, unplugging the headset from it’s USB port and plugging it back in instantly fixed the problem. Though minor issues, one of the programs that lost sound during some cinematic is another Blizzard product with a recent expansion so I wouldn’t be surprised if a patch comes along for the headset drivers and software to make these concerns mute.
‘The Whole Enchilada’: The Razer Banshee headset is actually just one piece of a three-piece set designed for StarCraft II. There is also a mouse and a keyboard with all the same game interactions and light display options. If you can swing the money for the Razer Marauder keyboard and the Razer Spectre mouse you can literally have all three flashing the same warnings at the same time and changing colors to match your APMs. You can also adjust all of their lights to your liking and it is all done through the same configuration program.
Price Vs. Value: The Banshee headset runs $119.99 which is a higher price for a high-end gaming headset, most of which generally run you around $80 to $100 dollars. But you have to take into account the light customization, the game interaction, and the fact that it can actually improve your game at which point the price doesn’t seem so bad. Add to that the fact that it is durable and high quality and I can see this headset, even the whole set (which would run around $320) being worth it to a serious player or someone who has the money to trick their rig a bit.
Last Call: I think this headset and the system it is a part of is the future of gaming. It has easily earned the nickname ‘Headset of Awesomeness’ and I think once serious players of StarCraft II see what it can do they will want the whole set and if they have to settle on only one piece might tend toward this one. Heck, if I was sure Santa was recession proof the whole set would be at the top of my wish list and my computer room would be aglow with my gaming.
*DISCLOSURE: A headset was sent to us for the purpose of this review.
*WINNER! The winner of the $100 dollar TigerDirect giftcard giveaway is…
OCELOT
Congratulations for playing and look forward to our next giveaway soon! *UPDATE – Gain A Second entry!!! We have now joined Facebook and will be giving a second entry to anyone who clicks ‘LIKE’ on our Facebook profile page. Please understand you must still comment below or Tweet, this will just grant you an additional entry into the drawing.
GamingShogun.com and TigerDirect.com have teamed up to bring you this latest giveaway for a $100 dollar TigerDirect gift card! The winner will be chosen, at random, at 11:59 pm PT on Friday, January 7th. Start the New Year off right and treat yourself – should you win, of course. We would like to thank TigerDirect for providing us with the gift card to be given away.
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