Knott’s Berry Farm has released their official 2012 Halloween Haunt Commercial. Knott’s “Scary” Farm begins on Sept. 21 and runs through the end of October.
Archive - 2012
Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studios have released a second video in our developer documentary series for Dishonored. In it, the team from Arkane Studios discusses the creative process that went into building the world and characters of the game’s fictional city of Dunwall.
Video
SAN MATEO, Calif. – September 11, 2012 – Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, is pleased to confirm that the Resident Evil® 6 experience will be further enhanced with the release of new modes and additional content following the launch of this highly anticipated title on home consoles this October 2.
Available as downloadable content, three new gameplay modes will expand on the multiplayer elements available in the retail version and deliver new and exciting ways to enjoy the world of Resident Evil 6.
Survivors Mode takes the classic solo- and team-based versus mode and adds a twist. Get killed and you respawn as an enemy character with the ability to attack the human characters. Take down two human characters to resurrect in human form. Last man or team standing wins.
In Predator Mode, one player takes on the role of the Ustanak, the fearsome B.O.W. that stalks Jake Muller throughout his campaign, and tries to eliminate the human players. The humans’ task: stop the deadly B.O.W. in its tracks, or at least survive until the end of the session.
Choosing the human side in Siege Mode will see players protecting a single NPC, while as a member of the enemy team, players will need to eliminate that same NPC. If the NPC is still alive at the end of the time period, the human team wins.
Survivors, Predator and Siege modes will all support up to six players online and be played using maps from Mercenaries Mode.
Players will be able to track their accomplishments in these three modes alongside their main campaign statistics and compare their performance with others by registering on ResidentEvil.Net, the free online service that launches alongside Resident Evil 6.
Further post-launch downloadable content for Resident Evil 6 will include additional maps forMercenaries, which can in turn then be used as maps for Survivors, Predator and Siegemodes, plus other items yet to be announced.
2K Sports has released its fourth Developer Insight, MyCAREER, for NBA 2K13, which is due out on October 2.
Video
Ridgewood, NJ, September 11, 2012 – It’s time to take a closer look at the combat in Omerta – City of Gangsters, the upcoming criminal empire-building game from Kalypso Media and Haemimont Games, makers of the popular Tropico 3 and Tropico 4 titles for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC. In the new screens, you’ll get an up-close look at the turn-based combat in Omerta, where gangsters duke it out for control of Prohibition-era Atlantic City. Molotov Cocktails, baseball bats and six-shooters all play a role in your success as a gangster inOmerta’s tactical battles. Omerta – City of Gangsters is scheduled for release on Windows PC and Xbox 360 in February 2013.
Screenshots
September 10th, 2012 — Valve announces a major update to the Steam gaming platform called Big Picture. Steam’s new Big Picture mode lets gamers access all of their favorite Steam games on a television. With the press of a button, Steam displays a new full-screen user interface optimized for readability and interaction on TV. Big Picture has been designed to be used with a traditional game controller, while also fully supporting keyboard and mouse input.
Steam gamers can experience Big Picture by connecting their PC or Mac to a TV, typically with a single HDMI cable. Access to the complete Steam store is included, as is the Steam Community. In addition to their complete library of Steam games, each user’s cloud files, Steam Workshop content, account information and preferences will be accessible automatically in the new mode.
“Sega’s roots are in living-room gaming.” said John Clark, Vice President of Digital Distribution at Sega. “For the first time since the advent of PC games decades ago, gamers are finally going to have access to the kind of entertainment experience we’ve always wished they could have with our PC titles – one that’s incredibly social, comfortable, and accessible. We’re excited about the opportunity, and Big Picture has inspired us to bring even more of our titles to Steam in the future.”
“There is nothing more satisfying than slaying thousands of orcs on your big screen. And many of the most die-hard players of Orcs Must Die 2 have always preferred playing with a game controller. Steam’s Big Picture mode finally marries these two and delivers a true living room entertainment experience to players.”
“We’re pleased that gamers on Steam will now be able to immerse themselves in our entertainment experiences in the comfort of their living room on large screen TVs,” said Steve Glickstein of Take-Two Interactive Software. “From action and adventure to sports and sims, our titles deliver big fun on big screens.”
“PC gaming continues to be the leading edge of entertainment, whether it’s social gaming, MMOs, graphics hardware, free-to-play, or competitive gaming,” said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. “With Big Picture for Steam, we are trying to do our part to give customers and developers what they want – their games, everywhere, optimized for the environment in which they are playing.”
Big Picture also includes a new web browser designed for televisions and game controllers. It is accessible from anywhere within the Big Picture UI, and even while playing Steam games on a TV. It supports Big Picture’s new method of typing with a game controller, which is useful for entering URLs, filling out forms, chatting, and other functions.
For more information, including how to participate in the beta, please visit http://www.steampowered.com/bigpicture/
The new Razer Tiamat 2.2 Headset is here and this week I put it through some rigorous testing to see if it’s worth your hard earned money. When directly compared to the Tiamat 7.1 headset, the Razer Tiamat 2.2 may seem like a downgrade since it only has the four speakers instead of the massive eight that the 7.1 has, but in truth, I believe that you will get a much more richer and overall better quality sound with the 2.2 then with the 7.1 if you use your headset for other things like music or movies. With the Tiamat 2.2, I really focused on three things for my review: construction, comfort, and performance for games, music and movies. Let’s see how the headset held up to a week’s worth of testing.
Construction and Specs:
My initial thoughts on the Razer Tiamat 2.2 Headset was that it was built well and built to last. The headset just has a feel of durability once you lift it out of the typically slick Razer packaging. The Tiamat 2.2 is a suspension headset, so the top plastic arch never touches your head which prevents the feeling of pressure that can build over hours of use. The cords for the headset are braided so that you never have to worry about then tangling, and it is harder for smaller animals to chew through them, which in my house is a constant worry. The microphone for the Tiamat 2.2 is retractable, which is a nice feature, and feels just as durable as the rest of the headset. The Tiamat 2.2 just does not feel like a cheap plastic headset that will break in normal use.
Here are the specs directly from Razer’s website:
TECH SPECS
- Optimized positional audio for immersive gameplay
- Dual bass drivers for deep, thumping bass
- Comfortable, snug fit for extended play
- Precise, noise-filtering unidirectional mic
- Slim, easy-to-use inline remote
- Replaceable soft-touch leatherette ear cushions
- Braided fibre cable
Headphones
- Drivers: 4 x 40mm Neodymium Magnets with Titanium Coated Diaphragm
- Frequency Response: 20 – 20,000Hz
- Impedance : 32Ω
- Sensitivity @ 1kHz : 109 ± 3dB
- Input Power: 60mW
Microphone
- Frequency Response: 50 – 16,000 Hz
- Sensitivity @1kHz: -36 dB ± 2dB
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 50 dB
- Pick-up Pattern: Unidirectional
In-Line Volume Control
- Headphone Dial
- Microphone Mute Switch
System Requirements
- PC with built-in 3.5mm audio jacks
Comfort:
The Razer Tiamat 2.2 Headset is very comfortable over long periods of time with only a few minor complaints from me. The Tiamat 2.2 is a suspension headset, which means that the hard plastic ridge that goes over your head is suspended off of your cranium. What actually touches your head is a very nice, padded piece that helps to keep the pressure of the headset off of your head. The entire headset only weights about three quarters of a pound, with most of the weight on your ears and not on your head.
The ear cups are made of a memory foam substance that feels very comfortable on your ears, however, the cups are covered in a leatherette material. At first, this doesn’t seem like much of a negative, and if you are only using the headset for a few hours you are absolutely right. The discomfort comes in when you start playing for longer periods of time, and you realize that the leatherette material does not let your ears breath very well. You will get sweaty ear over longer play periods, that is a fact. I would have loved to have a cloth ear cup replacement to help with this issue. Other then the ability to allow my ears to breath, the Tiamat 2.2 Headset is a very comfortable experience when it is put on your head.
The only other issue I had with the Tiamat 2.2 Headset is the length of the cord that they give you to hook it into your system. Razer is incredibly generous with their cord, giving us a full ten feet of it, so if you plan on connecting this to the back of your PC, you have plenty of cord to do so. I, on the other hand, use the jacks in by Black Widow Ultimate keyboard, so I was constantly covered in about ten feet of cord when truly, all I needed was about three feet. May not be a comfort issue for most of you out there, but if you plan on hooking the Tiamat 2.2 up close to you, be prepared to deal with excess cord that really has no place to go.
With the exception of the two small issues I had above, the Razer Tiamat 2.2 is the most comfortable headset I have ever worn. The light weight of the headset and the suspension design makes sure that it is not heavy on the top of your head and the over the ear cup design makes sure that it isn’t tight in that region either. The Tiamat 2.2 is extremely well made when it comes to comfort, even over the long haul with a marathon gaming session.
Performance:
When it comes to headsets, I don’t like to focus on just how it sounds for the gaming session. I also like to listen to music and watch movies on my PC, so the headset has to perform well in those areas too. I always look at how the headset performs during general use, not just with games. The Tiamat 2.2 performed excellently during all three tests and has come out as the best sounding headset I have ever owned or used.
What makes the Tiamat 2.2 different then most of it’s counterparts on the market is that it is a 2.2 system, meaning that it contains four 40mm speakers with two of these speakers being sub-woofers. What that means in the end, is that you get epic bass with whatever you are doing. The solid thud of an explosion, the deep gravely voice of a demon, or the hard hitting bass line in your favorite song all sounds that much better by using the Tiamat 2.2.
I put the headset through my typical weekly choice of movies, games and music and found that the Tiamat 2.2 performed above my expectations for all three uses. I watched Hellboy, Captain America, and a couple of episodes of Farscape and Top Gear through the headset and enjoyed every minute of it. I tested the headset on both the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack for Hellboy and the DTS 7.1 sound in Captain America and they both sounded fantastic. Sure, your not getting the surround sound quality you would with the 7.1 headset, but I have a home theater system set up for that, and this sounded just fine to me. I also tested the headset with games like Team Fortress 2, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft, and Battlefield 3, which the Tiamat 2.2 headset handled beautifully. The ear cups also do an outstanding job in noise canceling the outside world. This really increases the sound quality of the headset, when the other sounds that you don’t want mixed in are completely canceled out.
The microphone worked like a charm also during my gaming tests. Using Ventrillo, I was able to be heard by my friends loud and clear with no issues what so ever. The recording quality of the headset still makes it sound like you are talking through a headset, so if you plan on using the Tiamat 2.2 for podcasting or other recording sessions, the microphone may not give you the quality you are looking for. For gamers out there that are using it for Teamspeak or Ventrillo, the microphone is just fine and can retract whenever you don’t need it.
Final Thoughts:
The Razer Tiamat 2.2 Headset is not perfect by any means, it could use a shorter cord and the use of the leatherette on the ear cups will make your ears sweat over time. However, these little gripes are trivial when it comes to the overall performance of the Tiamat 2.2 in general use. The Tiamat 2.2 may not have the eight speakers that the Tiamat 7.1 has, but I will argue that this makes the Tiamat 2.2 better suited for music then the 7.1. The Tiamat 2.2 speakers are larger then the 7.1 speakers and are geared more for stereo sound. The two sub-woofers in the Tiamat 2.2 makes the games that I played just rumble through my skull, which was very cool for me. I liked the deep bass sounds as they came through the Tiamat 2.2 during game play for Diablo 3 and Battlefield 3.
When it comes down to it, the Razer Tiamat 2.2 analog headset is a must buy for anyone looking for a general purpose headset to use with gaming, music and movies. The Razer Tiamat 2.2 Headset is available now for $99.99.
Universal Studios Hollywood kicks off “Halloween Horror Nights” with its annual Eyegore Awards. The eagerly-anticipated event honors individuals within the Hollywood entertainment community for bringing the most indelible and terrifying moments in the field of horror to life.
Special guests will include this year’s new Eyegore Awards host, McKenzie Westmore, host of Syfy’s “Face Off,” Chad Michael Murray (House of Wax and the upcoming film, The Haunting in Georgia), legendary rock-horror icon Alice Cooper, Adelaide Clemens (Silent Hill: Revelation 3d), Angélica María and Angélica Vale (psychological thriller series “Mujeres Asesinas 2”), Diego Boneta (“Rock of Ages”), Wilmer Valderrama, Sid Haig, Bill Mosely. More talent to be announced.
“Halloween Horror Nights” brings together the sickest minds in horror to immerse guests in the living, breathing, three-dimensional world of the most notorious and terrifying creatures. Mazes include: “The Walking Dead: Dead Inside,” based on AMC’s Golden Globe®-nominated and Emmy® Award-winning TV series; “Welcome to Silent Hill,” based on the popular video games and film franchise; Am encore performance by shock rocker Alice Cooper in the new, “Alice Cooper Goes to Hell 3D”; “La Llorona: Cazadora de Niños,” based on the chilling Mexican and Latin American legend that has terrified children for centuries; “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Saw is the Law,” based on filmmaker Tobe Hooper’s notoriously unsettling 1974 horror film classic; and “Universal Monsters Remix,” featuring re-imagined classic horror icons and fused with electronica-inspired music. An all-new “Terror Tram: Invaded by The Walking Dead,” also based on the hit AMC TV series, will unleash hordes of flesh-eating “walkers” on Universal’s world-famous backlot.
“Halloween Horror Night” begins Sept. 21 and continues on 19 select nights through October. 31. Event dates: September. 21, 22, 28, 29; Oct. 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31. The event will begin nightly at 7:00 p.m.; closing hours vary. Ticket options include Front of Line passes for priority access at each maze, and Killer Deal Nights tickets to save up to $25. Information atwww.UniversalStudiosHollywood.
2k Games has released a new trailer for their upcoming basketballer, NBA 2K13, which is due in stores on October 2nd.
Trailer
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – September 10, 2012 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced today a unique, philanthropic-directed, cross-promotional partnership in North America that will result in a $1 million minimum donation to charities benefiting the nation’s veterans. In anticipation of the release of the Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures’ Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Academy Award® winner Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, and the EA game Medal of Honor™ Warfighter, players can help give back to the nation’s real warfighters with theMedal of Honor Warfighter Zero Dark Thirty Map Pack. EA will donate a portion of map pack sales* as part of its commitment to give back at least $1 million through its Project HONOR campaign, a program created to drive charitable contributions to nonprofit veterans organizations. The pack will be available for sale** in North America the week of December 17, in conjunction with the theatrical debut of Zero Dark Thirty, for $9.99.
“Working with Project HONOR is a meaningful way for us to continue our support for combat veterans throughout the armed services,” said Mark Boal, writer-producer of Zero Dark Thirty. “We are thrilled to be a part of this effort, and we’re humbled that EA is stepping up to the plate with such a significant contribution.”
The Medal of Honor Warfighter Zero Dark Thirty Map Pack includes two new multiplayer maps inspired by real world locations. Set in one of the most dangerous hotspots in the world, the first map is Darra Gun Market, Pakistan’s flourishing arms bazaar. Darra, the largest illegal arms market in the world, is a tribal land based on two principles – hospitality and revenge. No police are allowed to enter the area and the laws are made by the tribal leader. The second location is Chitral, which sits in the far north of Pakistan, bounded by Afghanistan to the west and China to the north. It is a remote, rugged area governed by tribes that will not allow even the Pakistani army to operate there.
“Medal of Honor Warfighter is inspired by real world events, real operations, and real warriors,” said Peter Moore, Chief Operating Officer at EA. “We’ve teamed up with Sony Pictures Entertainment to give back to the Special Operations community in honor of the sacrifices they and their families have made for their country and to connect people to the story of the greatest manhunt our world has seen.”
Written by actual U.S. Tier 1 Operators while deployed overseas, Medal of Honor Warfighter puts players in the boots of today’s most highly trained and skilled warriors to experience missions that have an intense sensory connection to real world terrorist threats. From rescuing hostages in Abu Sayyaf’s stronghold in the Philippines to assaulting Al-Shabaab’s “Pirate Town” on the Somali Coast, Medal of Honor Warfighter features international hotspots in the single player campaign and introduces international Tier 1 Operators in multiplayer allowing gamers to show their national pride online.
Medal of Honor Warfighter will be available in North America on October 23 and in Europe on October 26 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC. In Europe, the Pakistan maps and SEAL team 6 inspired weapon loadouts will be included in the Medal of Honor Warfighter The Hunt Map Pack, also available the week of December 17 for £7.99.
For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures’ Zero Dark Thirty reunites the Oscar® winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man. Gamers will be able to view the film trailer in the Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition game disc when the game launches in October. For more information on the film, please visit www.zerodarkthirty-movie.com. Zero Dark Thirty will be released in theaters nationwide on December 19, 2012.
For more information on Medal of Honor Warfighter be sure to visit www.medalofhonor.com, and www.facebook.com/medalofhonor, or follow on Twitter® at www.twitter.com/medalofhonor. Press assets are available at www.info.ea.com.