Bethesda Softworks and id Software have released a new gameplay trailer for their upcoming shooter, RAGE, taking a ride through Jackal Canyon as the game’s protagonist looks to recover a lost decrypter device.
Archive - 2011
Ratloop Asia has announced that their upcoming PSN title, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken, will be released on October 18, one week later than previously-planned. The developer stated that the push back was to make sure the game was “fully cooked”. Hardboiled Chicken will retail for $11.99 and feature both single and multiplayer game modes.
“Yes, Hardboiled Chicken was originally going to make his debut a week earlier, but cluck, we prefer our chicken fully cooked and our eggs completely boiled,” said Sian Yue Tan, Producer / Studio Head, Ratloop Asia. “The artistically bloody cinematics, clever-action puzzle gameplay and tastefully poultry seasoned humor will be worth the wait!”
Grave Encounters is a low-budget mockudrama from the directing team known as the “Vicious Brothers”. Filmed in 2010, Grave Encounters made the film festival circuit for quite some time and is now out for your renting pleasure on several streaming services and will be released on disk come October 18, 2011 – just in time for your Halloween movie watching-pleasure. The film follows a crew of five ghost hunters making a “reality” TV show a la Paranormal State or Ghost Hunters, as they go into an abandoned insane asylum looking for evidence of the paranormal. Suffice it to say, these five people will find such evidence…
While the premise of the film has been done, the Vicious Brothers bring some new twists to the fore with this one. I can’t really say what these twists are without ruining the flick, unfortunately, suffice it to say that they are welcome moments. What really helps sell this film are the performances by its cast. Sean Rogerson plays Lance Preston, the team’s leader, attempting to echo the dramatic cadence of Ghost Adventures’ Zak Bagans. Rogerson does a good job portraying the, in “real” life very-cynical, character who finds out quickly that there is truly something to fear in the dark of the asylum. The various members of the crew all play off one another well, especially once things start going down-hill, and they are to be commended for raising this film above-bar. Not that it would have been a terrible movie without them – it just would have blended into a sea of mockudrama.
Overall, Grave Encounters is a fun horror flick to watch, especially in the dark with some friends and a bucket of pop-corn (yes, get the oil-popped, none of this “air-popped” stuff – a little won’t hurt you). Happy Halloween-time!
Screencaps
SteelSeries has released their new Sensei gaming mouse and we got our hands on one to review for you loyal readers. It must first be mentioned that SteelSeries has long been known for pro-gaming quality gear, without all the fancy bells and whistles (e.g. lighting) that most other manufacturers tout in their products. So, when SteelSeries first announced that the Sensei would feature LED lighting, we were somewhat skeptical, wondering if the company had “sold out” to mainstream desires of form over function. After getting our hands dirty with the Sensei, however, we are pleased to say that this could not be further from the truth.
Featuring the same dimensions and ambidextrous design as the highly-lauded SteelSeries Xai gaming mouse (save for it being gunmetal instead of black), the Sensei is an attractive peripheral. That’s where the similarities between the two end, however, and we are not just saying that because the Sensei has some cool LED lighting effects (including an underside LCD display to show off custom logos, etc). Under the hood, the SteelSeries Sensei is equipped with a 32-bit ARM central processing unit capable of all sorts of heavy calculations not usually seen on a gaming mouse. In fact, these features are so revolutionary that they will undoubtedly be seen on other gaming mice in the near future.
This feature-set is known as SteelSeries ExactTech, and consist of ExactAim, ExactLift, ExactSens, and ExactAccel. Let it also be known that the ExactTech features are all fully-customizable per your own preference:
- ExactAim: This feature enables the Sensei to automatically decrease sensitivity as your mouse movement slows (i.e. Taking a sniper shot).
- ExactLift: This tells the Sensei at which height off the mousepad that the Sensei will stop translating movement. This is helpful because mousing surfaces differ greatly and these surfaces can affect this metric. I hate lifting my mouse of the pad only to see that it has altered by general aiming direction.
- ExactSens: Allows gamers to customize their mouse sensitivity setting in increments of 1 CPI (counts per inch). This is unheard of adjustment capability – usually gaming mice adjust in intervals of 100 CPI.
- ExactAccel: This is the opposite of ExactAim, allowing the mouse to automatically increase sensitivity when mouse movement increases.
The best part of these features are that they are all calculated on the mouse, on-the-fly. Just make sure you disable your operating system’s mouse acceleration/interpolation features. In actual gaming situations, ranging from Wargaming.net’s Wold of Tanks to the multiplayer portion of Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, this gaming mouse is a dream to use. Additionally, the mouse’s UPE Teflon feet ensure a smooth glide whether on a SteelSeries mouse pad or one from Razer (we have pads from each manufacturer). It should be noted, however, that the Sensei gaming experience is quite different than that of a standard gaming mouse and you may have some trouble adjusting at first. Our advice is to stick with it, as what the Sensei can do will definitely help you over time.
Of course, despite these awesome gaming features, the Sensei also features a 16.8 million color LED lighting system that will please the style-conscious. Additionally, lighting profiles are customizable and swappable so you can spend a good amount of time deciding which lighting profile to use for which application.
Overall, the SteelSeries Sensei gaming mouse is an exceptional peripheral sure to revolutionize gaming mice in the future. Its on-board features are incredible and the mouse will please those looking for glitzy LEDs as well as gaming performance. The Sensei retails for $89.95 and is available now.
[easyreview title=”Score Round-up” cat1title=”Construction/Quality” cat1detail=”Excellent SteelSeries construction and, while ambidextrous design is accommodating, it is not as comfortable as a mouse built for a hand-orientation.” cat1rating=”4″ cat2title=”Setup/Installation” cat2detail=”Simple installation and everything is customizable on the mouse.” cat2rating=”5″ cat3title=”Usage” cat3detail=”Excellent gaming experience and the mouse definitely helps your performance.” cat3rating=”5″]
Images
The Travel Channel has revealed the calendar for their upcoming series of Halloween specials – some for new shows and some for returning ones. We are most looking-forward to the guys in the Ghost Adventures taking on “The Village of Secrets”. Checkout the full listing below!
NEW SERIES:
MAKING MONSTERS (TRAVEL CHANNEL)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2 at 8PM ET/PT
Run: Sundays thru 10/23
A behind the scenes look at a Colorado based business, run by a family who are the trendsetters and masterminds behind the fiercest, most gruesome, vile and terrifying monsters supplied to the haunted house, Halloween and scare-amusement industry. They are the largest animatronics creator and producer in the world, pumping out hundreds of creatures year-round. They LOVE scaring people!
NEW EPISODES:
GHOST ADVENTURES (TRAVEL CHANNEL)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 at 9:00PM ET/PT
Letchworth has been called “The Village of Secrets” because the walls have always had something dark to hide. Overcrowded conditions, malnourished patients, and staff abuse plagued these buildings and opened the land up to something dark. Long since shuttered and abandoned this series of buildings overrun by nature still harbors evil. Zak Nick and Aaron have come here to unlock those secrets.
THE DEAD FILES (TRAVEL CHANNEL)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 at 10:00PM ET/PT
Amy and Steve investigate a historic Central Florida hotel where owners and guests have been tormented by terrifying visions. Steve’s interviews with frightened eyewitnesses, hotel staff and local historians lead him on a twisted path through the inn’s morbid past, revealing the sociopathic schemes of a villain obsessed with immortality. Unaware of Steve’s findings, Amy’s abilities bring her to the edge of madness face-to-face with angry spirits all yearning to escape. If their findings correlate, the hotel owners will be forced to face the growing darkness that hides in their hotel.
Namco Bandai Games has announced that they will be giving five one-of-a-kind Dark Souls statues away on the game’s official website. Check in there for details in how you can enter to win one of them. Apparently, the statues were created by a talented fan of the game and each measures over 12-inches tall.
Statue Images
Namco Bandai Games has released a new trailer for their upcoming RPG, Dark Souls, which is due out on October 4th for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.
Trailer
Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the Foo Fighters will headline the closing event of their upcoming BlizzCon gaming expo. Tickets are currently sold out, but interested viewers will be able to watch the show via DirecTV’s streaming as well as live streams on the Internet.
“There’s no better way to cap off two days of gaming entertainment than by blowing the roof off the convention center with an awesome rock concert,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Everyone attending BlizzCon and watching from home can look forward to ending the show with a bang when Foo Fighters bring the house down.”
BlizzCon runs from October 21 through October 22, 2011 in Anaheim, CA.
Rockstar Games has announced that the upcoming PC edition of L.A. Noire, dubbed L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, will be released on Windows and Mac PCs come November 8th, 2011. The game will feature all of the extra content for the title, that was originally released on consoles earlier this year.
System Specifications:
- Operating System: Windows 7 / Windows Vista Service Pack 1 / Windows XP Service Pack 3 / OnLive for PC or Mac;
- Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.2GHz to Quad Core 3.2GHz / AMD Dual Core 2.4Ghz to Quad Core 3.2Ghz;
- RAM: 2GB to 8GB;
- Hard drive space: 16GB;
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 512MB to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1536MB / Radeon HD 3000 512MB to Radeon HD 6850 1024MB;
- Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9 Compatible;
- DVD Drive.
L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and will be available at retail and digitally for $49.99 / €49.99 / £39.99.
Focus Home Interactive has released the final set of screenshots prior to tomorrow’s launch of A Game of Thrones: Genesis. The game is a strategy/war title where, according to the press release, players have a vast array of non-military options for dealing with opponents. So many, in fact, that you can topple enemy governments without even firing a shot.
