Sony Online Entertainment has announced the release of their new MMO based in the DC Comics universe, DC Universe Online. The game is available on the Windows PC and PlayStation 3 platforms for a retail price of $49.99 and $59.99, respectively. In the game, players customize and take on the role of a new hero or villain.
‘We’re redefining the genre and blazing a new trail in the gaming industry with the introduction of DC Universe Online,’ said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment. ‘This is the first true action MMO utilizing twitch-based combat and physics to deliver a completely unique and immersive gameplay experience that is reflective of the creativity, action and strength of the DC Universe.’
Archos showed off their 70 and 101 inch tablets at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, and gave us an up-close look at them. The 70 is their 7-inch display model while the 101 is their recently-announced 10.1-inch tablet.
2K Games has released a first look trailer for their upcomig MLB 2K11. The game is due out on March 8th, 2011 on the for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation2, PSP, Wii, and Windows PC platforms. MLB 2K11 features Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.
Valve Software has unveiled the box art for their upcoming physics-based, teleportation-bending, puzzler – Portal 2. The game is due out on April 18th, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows PC, and Mac platforms.
Checkout the PS3 and X360 box shots, After the Break!
Sony Online Entertainment has announced that tomorrow night, January 5th, will mark the end of the beta testing for its upcoming MMO, DC Universe Online. In celebration of this milestone, they are hosting an end-of-beta event called the ‘Battle of the Legends’. During this event, which is scheduled to take place at 6pm PT, players can join in on the side of their favorite DC heroes or villains in battle against one another. Furthermore, celebrity guests will be playing the game alongside you — see the schedule for details.
Official Schedule * On Wednesday, January 5th, at 6PM PT fight alongside comics legend Jim Lee aka ‘Future Batman’ as he takes on IGN’s Nick ‘Guyman McMonocle’ Kolan and his league of villains in Gotham Botanical Gardens! (PC players only)
* At 7PM on Wednesday, January 5th, Jim Lee will defend humanity as ‘Future Batman’ in the Botanical Gardens against the evil duo of IGN Editors Greg ‘Blue Business’ Miler and Hilary ‘The Temp’ Goldstein! PS3 beta gamers can jump in and assist the Dark Knight, or help IGN rain evil down on the universe!
DCUO is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 3 and PC platforms on January 11th, 2011.
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!
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!
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.
BioWare officially announced Mass Effect 3 at the Spike Video Game Awards 2010 along with releasing the debut trailer. The game is due out in the holiday 2011 season! Unfortunately, it looks like the Reapers have found Earth…
