Archive - 2013

StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm Review (PC)

2013/03/15

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Heart of the Swarm, the second in the StarCraft II trilogy of games, had me amped from the moment I heard its title announced. StarCraft is a franchise that prides itself on cutting-edge gameplay, great graphics, and terrific storylines. Sure, there are plenty out there who are only into the StarCraft series for the strong and often extremely challenging multiplayer aspect. Afterall, the first game in the series coined and added the phrase “zerging” to the gamer’s lexicon. These multiplayer-only gamers might not care about campaigns or storylines. Thankfully, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is robust enough to satiate the appetites of both kinds of RTS gamers. Me, I wanted to hear more about the Queen Of Blades, Kerrigan!

Storyline:

The Opening Cinematic:

I mean, holy crap, right? When they released the opening cinematic, I wanted the game right then and there – no more waiting. Kerrigan, no longer the Queen Of Blades, laid out on some medical table in a Terran facility! Anyone who finished StarCraft II: Wings of Lberty saw Jim Raynor carrying a human-looking, naked Kerrigan off into the sunset, so the Queen Of Blades getting her humanity back isn’t a spoiler at all, but her becoming a lab rat? And what did the dream mean? And how about that squished marine or the battlecruiser crashing? Without giving anything away, the storyline is great fun. It is a tad predictable in some spots, but terrific otherwise and the cinematics are so visually-stunning that goosebumps often stop by to watch.

Features:

New weapons of war also debut in Heart of the Swarm’s multiplayer, including new units such as Terran Hellbats, Zerg Swarm Hosts, and Protoss Tempests, while certain existing units from Wings of Liberty will be updated with new capabilities. New features will enhance the game experience, including group and clan systems; unranked matchmaking; Global Play, enabling players to battle others in different regions around the world; additional stat tracking; user interface improvements; an enhanced physics system, for more visceral looking battles; multiplayer replays, to watch replays with friends; a leveling system that gives Heart of the Swarm players a new way to earn customization options for their online profiles; and much more.

An all-new, Zerg-based campaign, that focuses on Kerrigan, the erstwhile ‘Queen of Blades’
Access to approximately 20 new missions
The release of new StarCraft II units and new maps
Improvements to Battle.net, including StarCraft Marketplace, timed to coincide with the release of Heart of the Swarm
New multiplayer options, including group and clan systems, unranked matchmaking, global play enabling players to battle others in different regions around the world, multiplayer replays, additional stat tracking, and others
A leveling system that gives Heart of the Swarm players a new way to earn customization options for their online profiles
PC and Mac system compatibility ensures that everyone can play

Hands On:

I dove into the game like an eager puppy with a new chew toy. I watched opening cinematic, started my new campaign, and didn’t stop for about 10 hours with the exception of a small chunk of time where I wolfed some food down and stretch my legs to keep from getting blood clots. This was my life for three days, just add in two visits to the gym. My eyes are still a bit tender from staring at the screen for so many hours at a time. The “just one more mission” excuse went by the wayside quickly as I knew only double vision and mental exhaustion would send me to bed to just wake with a start the next morning and settle in at the computer. My back is sore and I will no doubt spend the weekend convalescing, but it was worth it. First though, I must tell you why…

StarCraft and StarCraft II have, pretty much, set the bar for all other real-time strategy games to follow in terms of mechanics and gameplay. There are some RTS games where story is paramount, and these games often boil down to micromanaging an economy. Others barely have a story – in some cases, there is no real tale except “blue versus red” with battle over management in play. Still, others have almost no management and play is barely present in order just to tell a story. In all honesty, these will all appeal to a certain type of gamer and make them plenty happy. The trick with StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is that it gives you the option to do any or all of these as much as you want in one game. It has a balance of them all as its natural state but you can by play the style and settings make the game fit you, instead of adapting to the game’s. Heart of the Swarm maintains the series legacy while at the same time upping the ante.

For example, besides having the usual weapons, vehicles, and building upgrades through research, there are additional customizations that are permanent. You might be given the choice to make zerglings explode into mini zerglings upon death or make it so that zerglings can jump up plateaus – you can only pick one and, once you pick, that is it from then on. At the same time, your zerglings have a choice of three upgrades that will increase attack, defense, or health and can be changed before each mission for whatever conditions you expect them to be in. All your battle units have both the permanent as well as changeable traits that can really impact your gameplay and mission success. Kerrigan doesn’t get the permanent traits but, instead, gets ever-increasing choices of upgrades as she levels, which can be changed at the beginning of any mission. By the times she is fully leveled the number of choices are staggering.

Some might be concerned about the fact that there are only 2 new missions if they only play the campaign mode. The campaign missions are long and the possibility of playing through using different trait and upgrade choices makes them highly re-playable If a person is more of a multiplayer gamer, then they have nothing to worry about as the game comes with a multiplayer trainer to make sure a player has their game up to par before even getting into actual PvP. Additionally, there are ranked, unranked, and ability matching systems to try to make the most of your online experience. There will probably still be some trolls who fudge their abilities tests on purpose so they can stomp on newbies but, hopefully, with the system in place this will be less common. The only player who might feel a little shorted is the storyline player because, once played through, the storyline doesn’t really change. Also, there isn’t an option to make moral choices for the characters, which is probably the only thing lacking in the game. Most deep storylines in games these days have the player make choices which send the player down different paths like the classic “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. In this case, Blizzard decided they have a story they want to tell with this franchise and it will be one story over several games. It is a great story, so personally I have no problem with that. Missions allow for some degree of choice, you can let a ton of enemies live in a rush to the objective or you can take your time and wipe them from the map if you want. Personally, I like to take my time and build an armada, but for the sake of reviewing a few times I did make a race through enemy lines to my objective.

Blizzard Special Editions:

I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the things you get from the Heart of the Swarm special editions because they don’t just enhance your StarCraft experience. I picked up the digital deluxe edition so that I could get a baneling battle pet for World of Warcraft, character wings, special banner symbols for Diablo 3, and special portraits and decals for StarCraft online play. The physical collector’s editions included such things as a mouse pad, art book and soundtrack as well as the aforementioned digital benefits. The thing to consider is a special edition of any of these three Blizzard titles comes with items for the other two making the investment effect more of your Blizzard gaming universe.

Last Call:

My eyes are even more bleary and my back more sore, but I have a smile on my face as I get ready to spend a couple days in bed recovering watching television. I will occasionally play some low concentration games on the PC and finish up some iOS review titles I need to wrap up. I am by no means done with Heart of The Swarm – I WILL play it again and maybe again and I will suffer zergings online while I build my armadas and, maybe, on occasion make a move that catches my opponent off-guard. I may not be the fastest-clicking player in StarCraft, but I am crafty and wily – a play style that should never be underestimated and that I will continue to hone as I play this well crafted game.
[easyreview title=”StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

Reef Shot – A Review (PC)

2013/03/15

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Nano Games has released a new underwater exploring and photography game called Reef Shot. In Reef Shot, you are part of an expedition that is following the legends surround the lost city of gold, El Dorado. Before I get into this review, a little bit of disclosure is in order. In a former life, I actually worked as an archaeologist and spent many years studying New World archaeology, especially the contact period of the Spanish Conquistadors. As much as I tried, I could not keep my archaeology training out of this review, so I will have to discuss where Reef Shot went horribly wrong in terms of actual history and factual evidence. The issue with Reef shot is that when you stip out all of the historical intrigue that the game tries to build around certain myths, then the game is nothing more than an updated version of Pokemon Snap.

Story:

You play as Scott Burton, an underwater photographer that is working with an exploration group, consisting of a biologist named Renee Santone and her mentor, Professor Manuel Rodrigo Hernandez. The focus of the team is the expedition of Lope de Aguirre, who was searching for the famed city of El Dorado throughout South America. According to Reef Shot, de Aguirre disappeared mysteriously in 1561 and the team feels that his location and trail can be picked up on Isla de Robinson Crusoe on the western edge of Peru.

While exploring Isla de Robinson Crusoe, the team comes across some artifacts, beginning with a downed World War II Mustang fighter and leading to a sunken Mayan Temple. In hopes of finding more artifacts, the team begins searching the remainder of the island and discovers the remnants of an ancient Mayan civilization that is connected with the 2012 apocalypse myth.

Ok, here is where I will warn you, fair reader, of my incoming archaeology rant. I knew that the developers were going to frustrate me from the very beginning when they started the game with Lope de Aguirre’s mysterious disappearance. Lope de Aguirre did not disappear, he was killed by his own men in 1561 after he lead a rebellion against the King of Spain while on expedition along the Amazon River. Anyone who has done any type of research in the history of El Dorado would know this, so this expedition would have never gone to Chile with this information in hand. Secondly, Isla de Robinson Crusoe is so far from where the Mayan Civilization was centered, that the use of the Mayans in this game was nothing more than a blatant grab at the 2012 Mayan fervor surrounding the apocalypse myth. Since this game even missed a 2012 release date, that makes this attempt that much more pathetic in my eyes.

I know what the developers were trying to do, bend historical facts to make an interesting and captivating game. This has been done before in smaller amounts, but in games when history is the center idea, it just comes across as bad research and writing. The sad part for me is, after going through all of this in my head, the rest of the game was bland and not even remotely to play.

Game Play:

Reef Shot centers around the various dives by Scott Burton in discovering the various artifacts that his team is searching for. You swim from beacon to beacon, with tasks to complete at each stop. The tasks are just photography tasks, asking you to snap shots of various organisms for the biologist or Mayan artifacts as the game progresses. When you snap a picture, the game will score your picture based on how it is centered, is it an action shot, and the detail that you can see in the photograph. This score translates into points, which you can spend later.

The user interface is very simple, but is effective for what you need it to be. You have your oxygen tank on the left side, your camera reticule in the center, with pictures remaining and your current score, and a compass to find your next waypoint.

As your dive progresses, you unlock new skills that you can buy with the points you’ve earned with your photographs. These points can buy more pictures, more oxygen, or added tasks to finish before you head up.

There is nothing special here in terms of game play, at all. Once you get past the storyline, everything else is barebones and just flat out boring to play. If you can buy into the storyline of Reef Shot, then I can imagine the game becomes more fun to explore because you never know what puzzle piece you will discover next. However, with my utter contempt for what Nano Games did to the storyline in regards to archaeology and basic historical fact, the game play had no chance to save the game for me and quickly became apparent just how much there wasn’t here.

Aesthetics:

Reef Shot is an interesting game to look and and to listen too. The music actually fit the mood of the game, in creating a very relaxing atmosphere while you are diving underneath the waves off the coast of Chile. The voice acting was serviceable, but the dialogue was just about as bad as I have heard in a long time. Renee, who is pretty much the only one talking for most of the game, never comes across as a professional biologist, but more as a goofy tour guide at a wild safari park.

Final Thoughts:

Reef Shot may be one of those games that was doomed from the beginning with me, even before I played one second of the game. After years of training as a New World archaeologist, it is almost impossible to separate my training with creative license that the developers tried. As I played Reef Shot, all I could think of was all of the historical inaccuracies that are in the game, and this took me right out of the entire experience. All in all, I have played worse games in my lifetime, but Reef Shot could have easily could have been counted among them. Just steer clear of this game, it isn’t worth your time.

MechWarrior: Tactical Command (iOS)

2013/03/15

Ripper71

Mobile News, Mobile Review, News, Reviews, Screenshots / Photos

When I think of MechWarrior and the BattleTech universe in general I think of manning the inside of a cockpit, blasting missiles, strafing while watching my armor change colors and sometimes getting toasted instead of doing the toasting. This is all great but there is much more to the BattleTech verse than cockpit view battles, it also produces some great RTS games like MechWarrior: Tactical Command that just found itself a place on iOS. Pick it up today for $.99 (normally $3.99)

Storyline:

Set during the chaotic events of the 3050 Clan Invasion; command the mechwarriors of Winfield’s Regiment as they struggle to defend the Federated Commonwealth from the onslaught of Clan Jade Falcon.

The storyline has a lot of depth and solid cutscenes and voice acting, especially for an iOS game which tends to skip a bit on cutscenes, story and graphics to allow for the platform. This skips on nothing.

Description:

MechWarrior: Tactical Command uses a simple multi-touchscreen and top-down game play model. This allows players an overhead view of the battle field so they can strategically control and lead a lance of MechWarriors to victory.

Features:

– Stunning cut-scenes and graphics optimized for iOS 6 with retina display

– Now a universal app with iCloud integration across iOS devices

– Full camera rotation within the 3D environment

– Real time tactics and unique game controls

– Authenticity to the original BattleTech universe and beloved board game

– 21 unique missions across three planets

– Three difficulty modes and complete customization for resources, technology, weaponry and BattleMech upgrades

Hands On:

I was hooked right off the bat with the solid quality of the graphics both on the iPhone and iPad. Since the game was primarily designed for the iPad I thought that playing it on my phone while waiting for my iPad to charge would be a bit painful. I was so pleasantly surprised that I found myself playing for hours on my phone before remembering I was supposed to be reviewing it mainly on the iPad. Actually part of me prefers it on the iPhone because of the portability that it allows that you just don’t quite get on the iPad. I have my phone with me EVERYWHERE and that means this game was constantly at my finger tips.

The graphics looked like a PC game which let’s face it is nice but useless if the game has other problems. The controls certainly weren’t a problem, the touch responsiveness was spot on and most controls were intuitive so the only thing I had to look up was how to repair, you can only do this one unit at a time and only that unit should be selected. Selecting is a breeze because the HUD has all your units in the upper right hand corner, tapping on them selects and deselects them. It also has a full map in the lower right corner which includes a moving field for your view location and damage indicators both on your unit symbols in the corner and on all the units both friendly and enemy in the field. In some ways I actually liked the controls better on this platform than the PC since there are no hot keys to memorize just action wheels that appear at the different possible action locations and menus.

Don’t think though that because the controls are simplified the game is easy. Even on lower difficulties this game is a challenge and requires a lot of management and strategy. Particularly when you hit around the 5th mission or so and you find that you can win a mission without completing all the objectives but if you are objective obsessive like myself you might be playing the same mission several times trying to get the every success. Though I wore a headset to take in the dynamic sound I’m sure some pretty decent cussing was heard rooms away.

It takes a while into the missions before you can customize your loadouts or have different mechs to work with but they are worth the wait, this makes it so that you concentrate on the early levels on the mechanics and strategy rather than builds too. The missions really mix it up to so even though you can’t make the mechs to your specs you still keep enthralled.

Last Call:

This game is a no brainer for fans on the BattleTech universe and RTS players alike. MechWarrior: Tactical Command has great graphics, great gameplay and an interesting storyline, all done on iOS with solid controls. Pick this one up quick because at midnight PST it goes from $.99 t0 $3.99, which if you miss the deadline is still a great deal for hours of gameplay.

[easyreview title=”MechWarrior: Tactical Command Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

Gameplay Trailer:

Bioshock Infinite Full Voice Cast Revealed

2013/03/15

Jerry Paxton

News, PlayStation 3 News, Windows PC News, Xbox 360 News

2k Games and Irrational Games have announced the full voice cast for their upcoming Bioshock Infinite, which includes Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect), Kimberly D. Brooks (Mass Effect), and Yuri Lowenthal (I Love Bees).

BioShock Infinite Voice Cast:

Troy Baker
(Final Fantasy XIII, Catherine, Red Faction: Guerilla, Brothers In Arms, Batman: Arkham City)
as Booker DeWitt

Courtnee Draper
(Surf’s Up, Ponyo, and Kingdom Hearts II)
as Elizabeth

Jennifer Hale
(Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)
as Rosalind Lutece

Oliver Vaquer
(Dexter, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, The Warriors)
as Robert Lutece

Kiff VandenHeuvel
(Star Wars: The Old Republic, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition)
as Zachary Comstock

Kimberly D. Brooks
(Mass Effect, Batman: Arkham City, XCOM: Enemy Unknown)
as Daisy Fitzroy

Keith Szarabajka
(Argo, Sons of Anarchy, Halo 4, The Dark Knight, L.A. Noire)
as Cornelius Slate

Bill Lobley
(Sealab 2021, Alan Wake, Mafia II)
as Jeremiah Fink

Also with:

Amanda Philipson
April Stewart
Cindy Robinson
Laura Bailey
Lori Rom
Misty Lee
Tess Masters
Catherine Zambri
Dina Pearlman
Stephanie D’Abruzzo
Brent Popolizio
Brian Kimmet
Jesse Corti
Jim Meskimen
Joey D’Auria
Liam O’Brien
Mark Allan Stewart
Neil Kaplan
Patrick Pinney
Sam Riegel
Scott Holst
Spike Spencer
Steve Blum
Yuri Lowenthal
T. Ryder Smith
Gwendoline Yeo
Daheli Hall
Dioni Michelle Collins
Masasa Moyo
Elle Newlands
Kaiji Tang
Kevin Yamada
Matthew Yang King
Arif S. Kinchen
Faruq Tauheed
Roger Cross
T.C. Carson
Anthony Brophy
Brad Grusnick
Greg Ellis
Robin Atkin Downes
Patti Yasutake
Mimi Michaels
Vic Chao

Leviathan: Warships Website Online, New Screens, Dev Diary

2013/03/15

Jerry Paxton

News, Screenshots / Photos, Windows PC News

NEW YORK — 15 March 2013 — Paradox Interactive, a publisher of games and a treader of water, today released a new website, new screenshots, and a new behind-the-scenes diary forLeviathan: Warships, the upcoming strategy title for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android platforms.

Leviathan: Warships, a turn-based naval combat game with cross-platform co-op and PvP gameplay, now has all available media collected in one website, now afloat a thttp://leviathanwarships.com/. New screenshots are available there as well, showing off a variety of ships that will be available to players when the game launches in Q2 2013.

In Leviathan: Warships, players will choose from a wide array of ship and weapon types to build a personalized fleet and fight battles in a unique blend of action and turn-based gameplay. With Leviathan: Warships, Paradox puts the sea in the cloud, allowing players to start a session from their tablet and continue their cloud-saved skirmish from their computer, challenging foes on any available device. A new developer diary, discussing the design and decisions behind the game, is available now at http://tinyurl.com/cl6jorq.

Screenshots

Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World Announced

2013/03/15

Jerry Paxton

News, Screenshots / Photos, Windows PC News

New York, NY – March 15, 2013 – 2K and Firaxis Games announced today that Sid Meier’s Civilization® V: Brave New World, the second expansion pack for the award-winning Civilization V, is currently in development and will be released this summer for Windows-based PC and brought to the Mac® by Aspyr Media. Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World brings a massive amount of new gameplay to the Civilization V experience, providing gamers with even more rewarding ways to achieve world domination.

“Civilization V: Brave New World continues the strong tradition of ambitious expansion packs that fans have come to expect from the Civilization franchise,” said Sarah Anderson, senior vice president of marketing for 2K. “Brave New World is destined to continue the strong Civilization lineage that already includes massive expansions such as Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword and Civilization V: Gods & Kings.”

Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World provides new depth and replayability through the introduction of international trade and a focus on culture and diplomacy. The player’s influence around the world will be impacted by creating a number of Great Works across a variety of crafts, choosing an ideology for their civilization, and proposing global resolutions in the new World Congress. As players move through the ages of history, they will make critical decisions that influence relationships with all civilizations in the game world.

“After adding a number of great new features to Civilization V with the Gods & Kings expansion, the team continued to search for ways to create even more exciting gameplay through new systems and features,” said Sid Meier, director of creative development for Firaxis Games. “We’re happy to bring our fans another ambitious expansion that will provide hours and hours of new Civilization experiences.

Key features include:

– New Civilizations, Units and Buildings: The expansion features nine new civilizations, each with unique traits, units, buildings and all-new leaders, including Casimir III of Poland.

– New Culture Victory: Spread your culture across the globe, dominating all other cultures. Create masterpieces with Great Artists, Writers, and Musicians that are placed in key buildings across your empire, like Museums, Opera Houses and even the Great Library. Use Archaeologists to investigate sites of ancient battles and city ruins for priceless cultural artifacts. Become the first civilization with a majority influence in all other civilizations to achieve a Culture Victory, becoming the envy of the world.

– World Congress: The importance of diplomacy is intensified and city-state alliances are more important than ever. Change the diplomatic landscape through a new World Congress that votes on critical issues like implementing trade sanctions against rogue nations, limiting resource usage, designating host cities for the World Games and the use of nuclear weapons. Game-changing resolutions, vote trading, intrigue, and a new lead into the Diplomatic Victory ensures that the end of the game will be more dynamic than ever before.

– International Trade Routes: Build your cities into hubs of international trade by land and sea, creating great wealth and prosperity for your people, while also spreading religion, cultural influence, and science. The number of trade routes increases through the advancement of economics and technologies, the creation of wonders and the unique abilities of your civilization. Will you connect to a closer city for a lower payoff and a safer route, choose a longer route with more risk for the bigger payoff, or perhaps point your trade route inward, sending vitally important food and production to the far corners of your own empire?

– New Wonders: Eight new Wonders are introduced, including the Parthenon, Broadway, the Uffizi, and more.

– New Game Scenarios: Two new scenarios let gamers fight the “War Between the States” and embark on the epic Scramble for Africa. Fight the American Civil War from either the Union or Confederate side, as you focus on the critical action in the Eastern theatre of operations between the capital cities of Richmond and Washington. In “Scramble for Africa”, the great colonial powers of the world are racing to explore the Dark Continent and extend their reach into its interior. Search for great natural wonders in the heart of Africa, as you explore a dynamically-generated continent each time you play.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available for Windows-based PC and Mac this summer. For more information on Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World, please visitwww.civilization.com or become a fan on Facebook.

2K is a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

Wargame AirLand Battle Aircraft Trailer

2013/03/15

Jerry Paxton

News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

Focus Home Interactive has released a spanking-new trailer for their upcoming Wargame AirLand Battle showing off the game’s over 150 aircraft in action.

Trailer

GRID 2 Introducing World Series Racing Trailer

2013/03/14

Jerry Paxton

News, PlayStation 3 News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News, Xbox 360 News

Los Angeles, Calif. – March 14, 2013 – Today Codemasters® released “World Series Racing Part 1: An American Dream,” the first in a new series of trailers for GRID 2™ now showing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-pLHG-xJI4. The video is narrated by Patrick Callahan, the entrepreneur and founder of World Series Racing, the fictional cross-discipline motor racing championship that runs throughout GRID 2, who introduces his vision for the series and its beginnings in the USA.

In the video, Patrick Callahan outlines his plans for a new motorsports series and introduces players to two key racing clubs he needs to recruit as in-game footage showcases some of GRID 2’s American locations, including Street Racing in Chicago, Track Racing at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Road Racing at the dramatic California Coast. It is Callahan’s intention to bring the best drivers from different disciplines and styles from all over the world together to compete in one unified league and find the ultimate driving superstar. But to set up a new motorsports series, and get the rewards he craves, he needs a star. And that’s where the player comes in…

As Patrick Callahan’s raw talent, GRID 2 players will travel the world, recruiting race clubs and their drivers to compete in new and traditional racing events, crossing in and out of their established disciplines. Callaghan figures if he can get the best, the crowds will come. And then he’ll bring the eyes of the world onto his new series.

GRID 2’s world will reflect the progress players make in the game. Perform on the track and gamers will grow their fanbase, earning fame – GRID 2’s XP – allowing them access to new events, sponsors, cars and increasing their profile. To immerse players further in this new world of competitive motorsport, Codemasters has collaborated with ESPN to create exclusive in-game ESPN SportsCenter live-action video sequences that chart the rise of World Series Racing as it grows from a grass-roots curiosity to a headline-grabbing championship in the global sports market.

GRID 2, the long-awaited sequel to the BAFTA-award winning, critically acclaimed GRID™, will race into retail on May 28 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Windows® PC and is available for pre-order now.