Living LIVE News Report 11.14.11
Posted by Trace Aber on 11.14.2011
News and thoughts on Modern Warfare 3 shattering sales records, Mass Effect 3 having another leak, Battlefield 3 hackers getting banned, the next Xbox running on Windows 9, Xbox LIVE doing well and more!
REPLY POSTED
Well, at least one those among us has had the chance to play Mass Effect 3 beta, with a pretty in-depth review.
Got to play it for a couple hours before they took the servers down but it was awesome. Unfinished, but awesome.
Posted By: lol (Guest) on November 08, 2011 at 04:20 PM
You lucky bastard. One question though – people can't play the beta anymore? I thought once it was downloaded you had it, but apparently it doesn't work that way?
Other people weren't so lucky, but that didn't mean they were upset.
I may be in the minority, but I would rather wait 6 months for a polished version than get the rough version 6 months early.
You only get to play it for the first time once, and I want it to be as joyous an experience as possible.
Downloading it now is like taking a cake out of the oven halfway through baking - not poisonous, but not as tasty as it should be.
Posted By: Loki (Guest) on November 07, 2011 at 10:45 AM
I unfortunately didn't play the leaked beta. I do agree Trace that this will help Bioware. I can't wait until Mass Effect 3 is released.
Posted By: Guest#9764 (Guest) on November 07, 2011 at 02:27 PM
Certainly a good way to look at it, Loki. I see what you're saying, but given the chance to the play the game I'm not sure I could turn it down, no matter how unfinished. I have a problem with patience.
Welcome everyone to another issue of the Living LIVE News Report, and as always, I'm your host for the evening, Trace Aber. I had to forcibly pry myself away from Skyrim, which has lived up to all of my expectations and then some. Yes, some textures aren't all that pretty and the game has its flaws, but to me the entire package is perfect. I can't think of anything else I could realistically ask for in a game and still have the scope of Skyrim. If you haven't picked it up you're doing yourself a disservice. Also, be sure not to install the game, as it seems to cause textures to not want to load properly, making for a much uglier world.
Speaking of a disservice, check out my review of Daytona USA, which does the arcade no favors. Shame about that too – was really looking forward to playing some new modes or maybe even some levels. At least we got karaoke mode.
Call of Duty Shatters More Records Because, Hell, Why Not?
In news that is both impressive yet almost redundant at this time of year, the Call of Duty franchise has once again shattered all sales records. Within the first 24 hours of release, more than $400 million dollars were made.
"We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this record with sales from only two territories," said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc. "Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings," two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time."
As of right now, numbers are only in for North America and the United Kingdom. But, once global records are assessed it's possible that Modern Warfare 3 may actually topple the current largest launch leader, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at $483 million. In all, 6.5 million copies were sold in the two regions alone, which beats last year's Black Ops at 5.6 million and the year before that's Modern Warfare 2, which sold 4.7 million. Speaking of Black Ops, it just reached 2.8 billion hours of playtime in just a little over a year.
Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision Publishing added, "Call of Duty is more than a game. It's become a major part of the pop cultural landscape. It is a game that core enthusiasts love, but that also consistently draws new people into the medium. It is the most intense, adrenaline pumping entertainment experience anywhere. I would like to thank our incredible teams at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games for making a brilliant game. But most of all, I would like to thank our millions of passionate fans worldwide. We made this game for you."
In a nice gesture by the company, they also donated $3 million to their Call of Duty Endowment, which provides job placement and training for veterans. Anybody surprised by these numbers though? I'm not.
Mass Effect 3 Plot Details Released…BioWare Continues Streak of Awful Luck
Just last week BioWare saw their highly anticipated Mass Effect 3 have a private beta leaked to the public thanks to "human error" on Microsoft's side. Well, this week some major plot details have been released, and the response hasn't been quite a positive as the beta.
According to BioWare the info was retrieved from "internal story files" that are "out of date and [do] not reflect the final story experience." They also give warning that players should still avoid finding these spoilers, as they may ruin the story for them. Members of message board NeoGAF, who first leaked the details, were reportedly issued a cease and desist letter from BioWare.
What might be most damning of all is that some people have been expressing concern over the quality of the story. And while it is likely that plenty of the story has change, details are obviously left out, and reading any video game story will most likely not nearly as awesome as experiencing it in its finished form…people are still ready to assume the game sucks. I personally haven't read any of the spoilers, despite my temptation. People don't know what's going to end up as the final product, and should probably wait to actually play the game. Then again, I just really love Mass Effect.
For those of you who have read the spoilers (I'm assuming Loki didn't), what are your thoughts on them? And more importantly, does your soul feel tainted for hurting BioWare's feelings?
EA Battling Against Battlefield 3 Hackers
With just about every major online game released comes a list of exploits and hackables found by certain members of the community. Sometimes these things go ignored by developers, and are dismissed as taking advantage of a glitch. Other times developers ban everybody who tries the glitch to assert the dominance. EA is taking the latter route when it comes to current Battlefield 3 exploits.
A series of three tweets from the official Battlefield 3 Twitter account said, "We've banned hundreds of hackers this week alone, and we are determined to punish the players who play without integrity. A patch is just around the corner, and we will continue to ban cheaters. We take it seriously. That is our attitude here at Battlefield. We have zero tolerance for cheating players and are banning more all of the time."
For those tired of hackers ruining their online gaming, it's hard to argue with this stance. Hopefully they don't go overboard and start banning people for every little thing, or worse – people who have done nothing. Otherwise, this good idea may turn into a huge headache for EA.
As for the cause of all the commotion? Some believe it to be linked to this video, which shows players how to easily gain "100,000 XP+ PER GAME." The exploit consisted of joining "hardcore" mode with a friend on your team, both of you engineers. One picks repair kits and the other picks the robot – take turns shooting it and repairing it for maximum points. Supposedly, a patch released sometime soon should fixed the exploit.
Don't fret about people taking advantage of this exploit, however. While their stats will be wiped out, EA will not be banning them from gameplay. The patch will also address the overpowered tactical flashlight, which was driving me nuts online.
In another note, during Battlefield 3's first full week of online multiplayer, it still couldn't topple Activision juggernaut Call of Duty: Black Ops. I'd imagine those two games and Modern Warfare 3 will be the top three for a while.
Oh yeah, expect a review of Battlefield 3 from me soon!
Next Xbox to Run on Modified Windows 9 and is Presently Named "Loop"
So, here's an interesting story from blog MS Nerd, who has be known to be good about rumors before. According to the blog, the next Xbox console will release using a modified Windows 9 core, with a "Zune HD-like hardware platform," which means a "main processer" and separate, "assistive" cores for graphics, A.I., physics, networking, sound, and sensors. Apparently, it will somehow be smaller and cheaper than the Xbox 360, and continue with Kinect. I'm not entirely sure what any of it means, but I'll be sure to keep you update on the latest.
Xbox LIVE Doing Well
According to the Xbox LIVE Chief of Marketing Robin Burrowes, an Xbox LIVE account is added every two seconds. On launch, 50,000 users registered, while today the company boasts over 35 million at the end of 2010, and added another 15 million on that since. Not bad, eh?
The Digital Downloads Arcade Games
Fusion: Genesis (800MP) Games on Demand
Monster Jam: Path of Destruction ($39.99)
Fight Night Champion ($29.99)
Ninety-Nine Nights II ($29.99) Demos
LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7
Happy Feet Two
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!
I'm not surprised by Modern Warfare 3's success. However, I'm concerned that Call of Duty is going to be like Guitar Hero if Activison isn't careful (oversaturation of the series).
Posted By: Guest#0176 (Guest) on November 14, 2011 at 01:19 AM
If the any of those ME3 spoilers are true, then the plot is going to be painful.
Forced drama for the sake of drama. Stupid either-or choices without any option to save both (ie if every single mission had a Kaiden/Ashley choice). Also Bioware has apparently bent over backwards to make sure that any choices the player made are completely irrelevant in the main scheme of things. Have never had my interest sucked out of me for a game I just had to have previously before this.
Posted By: Guest#2739 (Guest) on November 14, 2011 at 05:51 AM
You can't play the beta anymore, they did something to decertify the download so it shows as a corrupt download. You couldn't get on the servers anymore anyway.
Posted By: lol (Guest) on November 14, 2011 at 11:11 AM
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