Living LIVE News Report 09.19.11
Posted by Trace Aber on 09.19.2011
News and thoughts on Modern Warfare 3's Prestige edition, Dragon Age II's DLC featuring Felicia Day, Dead Island selling well, discussion of the scariest Xbox 360 game and more!
REPLY POSTED
There seems to be an argument about whether or not the original Crysis had a multiplayer mode, mostly because the recently-announced XBLA version would not be supporting that feature.
I'm sure by now that you've heard that Crysis will be selling for 1600pts on Live and $19.99 on PSN. But I didn't know that there is no multiplayer for it! WTF! It's overpriced to start with and if the games successful, you'll get to pay more for multiplayer! EA can go to hell. Well, I'm glad that I already played it on the pc.
Posted By: mogamer (Guest) on September 13, 2011 at 12:29 PM
There's no multiplayer for Crysis because...there was no multiplayer for Crysis.
Posted By: lol (Guest) on September 14, 2011 at 06:30 PM
Er, yes there was.
Posted By: mogamer (Guest) on September 15, 2011 at 12:52 PM
Not that was worth playing, so why bother porting it?
Posted By: lol (Guest) on September 16, 2011 at 02:01 AM
Well, for the record, there was multiplayer in the original Crysis game, though your personal taste varies. I've heard that due to space limitations multiplayer was taken out, and as I mentioned last week along with mogamer, it's likely they'll release an add-on for it should the demand be high enough. Yeah, it's a way to make more money for EA, but I think a nice middle-ground would be if the multiplayer expansion didn't require the core game to play. That way everybody can get the Crysis they desire.
And then we had a couple comments about the psychological study done to determine the scariest Xbox 360 game.
I guess the scary (from Dead Space 2) only comes from harder difficulty because I played on Casual and wasn't scared at all. Apart from the eye bit - I had a lot of trouble with the eye bit. *shudder*
Posted By: Loki (Guest) on September 14, 2011 at 08:06 AM
I haven't played Dead Space 2 but if it's similar to 1, then the scary level isn't as great at Alan Wake. Overall I felt AW was very well done, better atmosphere, story, and chills. I enjoyed each game but AW really was original.
Posted By: Wii60 (Guest) on September 15, 2011 at 03:59 PM
Never been a big fan of the Dead Space games myself, though I've never been a big fan of the horror genre in general. Still, I have played a bit of Dead Space 2 and while I jumped a few times it was more "shock" than actually being scared. Alan Wake did a great job building up the suspense though, and it seems more likely than Dead Space. Not trying to say either one is entirely logical in the real world, but I could relate to Alan Wake's world better, which to me is scarier.
Welcome everyone to another issue of the Living LIVE News Report, and as always, I'm your host for the evening, Trace Aber.
Only Two Versions of Modern Warfare 3 to be Released
It has become standard for the Call of Duty series to have three separate versions per release: A regular version featuring just the game, a Hardened edition with a bit of extras, and the Prestige edition which usually has something cool like night vision goggles or an RC car. That won't be the case come this November when Modern Warfare 3 hits, however.
You can blame the new subscription service Elite for that. According to Infinity War's Robert Bowling, the Hardened version is going to run $20 more than normal but feature a full year-long subscription of Elite. Activision is really trying to push the Elite service and honestly, considering that Elite comes with all of the DLC there isn't any reason not to get it, even if you're a casual Call of Duty player. I was skeptical of the service at first, but even if you don't care about stats you'll still benefit from subscribing. You'll also get "Special Founder Status" for Elite, granting "Hardened" owners exclusive emblems, camo and "more exclusive benefits."
On top of that, the Hardened edition will feature a Steelbook case (which apparently is the official name of that), game art and a collectible field journal 100 pages long. Whatever that is. Does anybody plan to pick up MW3 but not get the Hardened edition?
Dragon Age II DLC to Feature Alicia Day
BioWare will be releasing new DLC for Dragon Age II on October 11 entitled Mark of the Assassin, tying in with the live-action web series Dragon Age: Redemption. The most intriguing part of this DLC pack? Felicia Day, who plays an Elven assassin in the series, will also be a part of the DLC.
In Mark of the Assassin, Hawke will meet Tallis, Day's character, and work with her to steal an ancient relic from a fortress-like estate. According to Chris Priestly, community coordinator for BioWare, "Mark of the Assassin features new items, new enemies and monsters and new environments as well as giving players the opportunity to experience a new, tactical way to play with the return of Stealth gameplay. Plus, along with the new environments and monsters, you will learn more about the Orlesians and Qunari."
The pack, like most good DLC, will set you back 800MP. While I don't follow much of Dragon Age, I think it's pretty cool that they're tying in their web series with their next DLC. It gives hardcore fans extra backstory to the character and the game features a relatively-recognizable face, which can only help sales. Anybody plan on picking this up come October?
Dead Island Ships Nearly 2 Million Copies, DLC Pushed Back Dead Island, the zombie RPG, has had quite a rough start since its release. The reviews have ranged from horrible to great, fan reaction has been mixed, and some people are upset that the trailer was misleading. Even worse, the game is buggy as hell, especially the PC version in which a beta version was accidentally shipped. Despite these setbacks, the game has shipped over one million units and hope to have over 2 million shipped globally by press time. Note that these aren't copies sold, but units shipped tend to correlate with sales.
In other Dead Island news, the recently announced Bloodbath Arena DLC will be pushed back in order for the team at Techland to work on some various bugs. They've already released a patch to fix multiplayer and autosave issues, as well as various other bugs.
"Right now the Dead Island development team's priority is working on fixes and updates across all platforms so that we can take care of all of the fans who have been so supportive of our game," a spokesperson said "There is some awesome DLC content planned for Dead Island, but first we have to put all our focus on the base game experience."
No official word on when the Arena will be released, but I think it's good that they're focusing on the more important issues at hand. Of course, they probably should have had those fixed to begin with, but it's too late to think about that. Any readers out there purchase the game and notice any significant bugs?
Honey Badgers Are On Fire!
So Honey Badgers seem to the be the "cool" new animal, though this time around they'll actually be on fire. That's right, Honey Badgers are coming to NBA Jam: On Fire Edition.
Many basketball games now have to think outside the box when it comes to rosters due to the NBA lockout going on, but this one is in a whole other warehouse. The team consists of Sleepy, Feisty and Nasty, which means there's a decent chance they're actually dwarves in disguise as honey badgers.
See, I wasn't lying
The On Fire edition of NBA Jam somehow uses the AI of the Fight Night series, improved online features, more unlockables, an experience counter and contain over 125 current NBA superstars, nearly 50 NBA legends, 27 mascots and a host of secret teams. It'll release on XBLA on October 5, 2011 for 1200MP, or $15. No word on when they'll change it to a retail release and charge $40 instead.
You are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of Fallout: New Vegas. Ulysses promises the answer as to why he didn't take the job, but only if you make one last journey into the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. Releases on September 20 for 800MP.
The Digital Downloads Arcade Games
Red Bull X-Fighters (800MP)
Radiant Silvergun (1200MP)
Renegade Ops (1200MP)
Games on Demand
Bulletstorm ($29.99)
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 ($39.99)
Homefront ($39.99)
Demos
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
FIFA 12
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012
Signing Out
That does it for me this week. Be sure to check back next week as we discuss all of the latest Xbox 360 news, including releases, rumors and reviews! Also, don't forget to bookmark 411Mania! And a note to all of the Indie Game developers out there – if you have an upcoming title that's going to be released soon drop me a line at traceaber@gmail.com and let me know. I'll write a full review of your game to be posted on 411Mania.com, which is a great way to get your game promoted!
Wow. Anybody who says it is not true to lump and stereotype all gamers in the ugly nerd/dork with no hope for sex ever category need only look at the picture at the bottom of the page to know that is a pretty dead on stereotype. But at least you three have each other, I guess.
Posted By: Guest#3710 (Guest) on September 22, 2011 at 01:08 AM
Haha, wow, this guy.
Posted By: TraceAber (Registered) on September 22, 2011 at 11:07 AM
I picked up Dead Island and apart from a couple of graphical glitches, I havent encountered any game breaking bugs, and I had it from Day 1.
Posted By: el_pieablo (Guest) on September 23, 2011 at 12:09 PM
I've also had Dead Island since day one, and the most "game-breaking" bug I've run into is THE LIGHTNING STORM FROM HELL! It typically happens during multiplayer, as the screen will go all white, and you'll be killed over and over again until you back out of the multiplayer game. Annoying, but not exactly "erase/corrupt your save" level annoyance.
Also, wanted to point out that "units shipped" and "game sales" are the same thing for the most part. When a company ships 2,000,000 units, they've sold 2,000,000 units to retailers. That's where "sales" figures come from, as "point-of-purchase" sales are almost impossible to track outside of the major retailers.
Posted By: Blottie (Guest) on September 25, 2011 at 02:34 AM
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