This new BRINK video developer diary from Splash Damage and Bethesda talks about the war-torn setting of the game – how it all happened as well as the current state of the various factions attempting to control the Ark. BRINK is due out next Spring on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms.
SouthPeak Games has released a new video adventure in the life of Two Worlds II’s #2 evil antagonist, Sordahon. In this part of the ongoing web series, Sordahon is at the psychiatrist’s office seeking advice on if SouthPeak and Two Worlds II is the right place for him to be. Two Worlds II is an upcoming RPG from SouthPeak and is due out this October.
IO Interactive and Square Enix have released two new character vignette trailers for their upcoming shooter, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. The game is due out on August 17th across North America and will again see the unlikely duo taking on insane odds – this time, in Shanghai.
Here is Kane’s vignette, and you can find Lynch’s, After the Break!
Capcom’s Sengoku Basara 3′ (aka ‘Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes’) has sold 243,000 PS3 units, and 50,000 Wii units in its first week! The number two contender on the sales charts, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd, ranked in 241,000 in sales.
You can read the full Japanese sales chart over at Nintendo Everything.
Lionhead and Microsoft Game Studios have released the intro video for their upcoming RPG epic, Fable 3. Due out on October 29th, Fable 3 promises even more epic storytelling and player interaction with the fate of the world. It also promises more chickens… As seen in the trailer below… Poor little fella.
gamigo and Reakktor Media have released details on the crafting system to be featured in their upcoming space MMOG, Black Prophecy. Black Prophecy is due out later this year and will follow a free-to-play business model.
From the Crafting Details:
Resources and Parts
There are three types of resources in the game: metal, plasma and gas. Metal is extremely important for crafting ship modules, weapons and other items. Plasma is primarily used as a source of energy during crafting. Gas is an important resource needed for the production of high-performance computers and for operating hyper-space jump drives.
You can read more on the game’s crafting system here or checkout new screenshots, After the Break!
If Command and Conquer founded the modern real-time strategy genre, it was StarCraft which revolutionized it. Originally released back in 1998, the game brought several elements to the table which have become RTS staples – for instance, the use of telling the game’s story through the use of three separate faction campaigns. Also important was its riveting story and incredibly beautiful cut-scenes to bring it to life. Before StarCraft, the most story we got in an RTS was some badly-done full-motion video (known as ‘FMV’ back then) or some cheesy splash images with which to garner the plot from. It has been twelve years since StarCraft was released and now Blizzard Entertainment has let loose the sequel, StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty.
The story of StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty takes place four years after the events of the StarCraft expansion: Brood War. At the beginning of the story, we find Tychus Findley being released from cryo-prison and Jim Raynor living on a backwater planet where he is leading a resistance movement against the corrupt Terran Dominion. Soon these characters cross paths again, and, without spoiling anything, they must save the human race from annihilation.
The overall tone and themes of this part of the StarCraft 2 trilogy (the other two are said to focus on the Protoss and Zerg campaigns) has been heavily-inspired by the Joss Whedon TV series, Firefly. From the Western-style musical score and cowboy drawls to the overall look of the characters and technology; Wings of Liberty is a hoot to watch unfold and will have you quipping in Chinese more than once (gorram Zerg!). Thankfully, the themes were only inspired by the Firefly universe. The only things taken directly from other IPs are actually from other Blizzard IPs (and maybe a Star Wars reference or two). Players with a sharp eye will definitely see a lot of references to both World of Warcraft and Diablo.
The most revolutionary thing about StarCraft 2 is the way it presents its single player campaign. It’s not that the multiplayer is not fun or the Battle.NET integration is not seamless – that it is all true. However, when you look at the most clever things done in the game, you have to look at the single player experience. The multiplayer seems more or less like it was built for the tournament players out there and doesn’t bring a lot of innovation to what was already laid out in the original StarCraft. However, the hardest thing for a real-time strategy title to do is tell a single player story as so much of these types of games is spent looking down at the battlefield, detached, from on high.
In StarCraft 2, Blizzard has managed to suck players into the experience through the use of a gameplay mechanic once seen in Origin Systems incredible Wing Commander series. Between missions, you will be able to hit various locations based on your current base of operations and interact with objects and characters by clicking on them with your mouse. These can simply be random objects with some story significance or important plot items that give some additional backstory to an upcoming event. Additionally, you will sometimes be forced to choose between two characters or choices which will affect the outcome of your available missions or force disposition.
One entertaining device used throughout many of these inter-mission sequences is a news network broadcast on the television screen in the cantina. The pro-government news anchor is just begging for a Holly McClane punch to the face.
More importantly, you get the opportunity to direct your forces by way of an Armory, Laboratory, and Cantina! In these rooms you will be able to hire mercenary forces that can be deployed on-world, purchase new abilities for your units and structures, or even research new technology options which are paid for in research points found during missions. There is a TON of customization and decision-making to be found here, and it gives the player a direct role in the outcome of his or her military. It makes sense, given that your character is Jim Raynor, leader of the resistance and whatnot.
Furthermore, Blizzard has added the ability for players to, in many cases, choose their next mission from a few options – each with their own rewards and perks! When you sum up all of these additions, you are left with one pretty awesome game. The word ‘awesome’ is generally not considered a very urbane adjective by most highbrows out there, but it is more than applicable in this case.
StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty will have you on the edge of your seat the whole way through – one minute you will be listening to one of the in-house Blizzard bands on the cantina jukebox and the next you will be eating concertina wire and pissing napalm while fighting an army of Hydralisks.
In short: Get this game now. That is all. Dismissed!
Gaming headsets are a dime a dozen these days – it seems like every manufacturer has some headset they market to the gaming crowd. Most are just general-use models with some flashy marketing. So, when we hear about a headset-maker who is genuinely trying to do something revolutionary, we take notice. Enter: The Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset from Psyko Audio Labs.
The Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset is a true surround sound headset. Unlike virtual surround sound models, the Psyko 5.1 actually features seven speakers mounted throughout the unit. Five of the sound drivers are meant for the surround sound channels and are mounted in the head band. The other two drivers are the sub-woofers and are located in the lower part of the ear cups. The price for all of these speakers comes in terms of added weight. The Psyko 5.1 headset is easily the most weighty headset I have ever used outside of aircraft-grade models. Thankfully, Psyko Audio Labs has put a lot of foam padding around the unit in an attempt to soften it as much as possible.
As previously-mentioned, the surround sound drivers are located in the top of the headband, leaving the question of how they get the sound from the headband down to your ears where it belongs. This is where the real magic of the Psyko 5.1 lies and how they recreate the ‘perfect room’ or audio ‘sweet spot’, which is the bane of many audiophiles’ existences. In short, the ‘sweet spot’ is the exact location in a surround sound system where all the speakers and sounds are exactly the same distance from the listener, ensuring a perfect balance of incoming sound channels. This spot is very hard to obtain and even more difficult when several people are attempting to enjoy the surround sound – obviously, some folks just wont be able to get the sweet spot – concessions need to be made. With the Psyko 5.1, they recreate this audio holy grail by funneling surround sound down from the headband via ‘waveguides’ which then output the sound in the proper direction from your ear. This means that the rear sound channel waveguides output the sound behind your ears, giving your body the chance to locate the sound as nature intended, instead of through the use of some virtual surround system.
For the gamers out there, this means that sound input will be accurately delivered to their ears in order to give them an additional edge while playing against their foes, virtual or real. Setting up the Psyko 5.1 is very simple. You plug the four input jacks into the included, external amp unit and then connect the cables coming out of the amp into the 5.1 surround sound outputs on your PC. Technically, the Psyko could be used with any audio source providing the four surround sound outputs, but there are certain aspects of the Psyko amp which make this unwise.
Confused on if you have plugged everything in correctly? On the external amp unit, there is an array of channel-specific LEDs. As sound is pushed out through the 5.1 channels, these lights will brighten and dim with the volume of the sound per channel. So, if you need to test a particular channel you will know rather quickly if you plugged everything in correctly.
Psyko Audio Labs has intended this for gamers. In speaking with their CEO, James Hildebrandt, the company has used the external amp to enhance the sound frequencies most found in first-person shooter titles. These are apparently not the best sound frequencies for movie watching or album listening. The company’s motto for this product is ‘The Dawn of Audio as A Weapon’, and it holds true. Do not buy these if you are not a gamer, they will simply be an incorrect fit for your needs.
I only found two things off-putting about the headset. First, was its weight, which after several hours of play began to bother the top of my head – even with the cushions provided. The second thing that threw me off was the lack of an auxiliary speaker output on the amp. If your PC is located on the ground like mine, you have to reach under there and swap out the headset plugs with your general-use system for movies and music. If I could just have the general speakers plugged into the amp along with the headset (maybe have a toggle to go back and forth between outputs) – it would be a lot more convenient. At least the earcups are ventilated, which helps not make your ears all sweaty after long hours at play. However, this also means that sound can be heard by people around you – so, if communications secrecy is a concern you may want to watch who is standing next to you.
I put the Psyko 5.1 through its paces over a few weeks (save for the week of Comic-Con) full of games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Call of Duty: World at War, Armed Assault 2: Operation Arrowhead, and a few others I am sure I am just forgetting at the moment. The channel separating in the games supporting 5.1 sound was incredible and definitely gave me an additional layer of situational awareness not found in the general-use headset I usually employ while gaming.
Left 4 Dead 2 was an especially eerie play-through, as that is an experience where the audio can be just as scary as the zombies intent on eating your flesh and sucking the marrow from your fractured bones! After setting up the Psyko 5.1, I could make out zombies scampering about all around me – especially when they start horde runs. The experience of hearing the sound being picked up by your ears from the actual direction it should be coming from was alarming to say the least.
Putting the CEO’s advice to the test, I did attempt to watch a few movies and listen to a few albums on my PC. The experience was definitely something I would not recommend as the equalizer was simply not right for those uses.
At $299, the Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset will undoubtedly turn some folks off. It is a very pricey investment for a headset that is not a great fit for movie or music use. However, this is not for casual folk. This headset is for gamers and in a world of ‘for-gamer’ products which, in reality are anything but, the Psyko 5.1 headset is an exceptional work of audio art that is certain to give you the edge whether it be in single or multiplayer game sessions. Game on!
You may remember the Q&A we did with game producer Matt Wagner on the upcoming flight simulator, DCS A-10 Warthog from DCS and The Fighter Collection. If not, get to reading! If so, however, then feast your eyes on the official teaser trailer for the sim, which is due out later this year.
Hard rock band, Shinedown, hits the Guitar Hero family of games today with their three pack of tracks. The Shinedown Track Pack features the tracks ‘Devour’, ‘Second Chance’, and ‘Sound of Madness’. These tracks are three of the band’s biggest hits off of their platinum album, The Sound of Madness.
The Shinedown Track Pack is now available via Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 440 Microsoft Points, from the PlayStation Store for $5.49 and the Wii Shop Channel for 550 Wii Points. The three songs are also available as single downloads for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PlayStation 3 for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. The Shinedown Track Pack will also be compatible with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock when the game is released this fall.
