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Modern Warfare 2 care package glitch getting fixed. Finally.

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/07/2010Tags: , ,

It’s happened to all of us. You are running around knifing people and popping off the occasional head-shot when you hear that voice pipe up on the TV “enemy care package incoming”. You don’t think too much of it, hopefully they get something lame like extra ammo or a UAV jammer. It doesn’t phase you. You just keep doing everything you can to kill and not be killed. And then you hear those words again “enemy care package incoming”. Something isn’t right. It’s pretty early in the match for someone to rack up enough kills for one, never-mind two care packages. You check the scoreboard and notice only one person on the other team has enough kills for a care package, but no one has enough for two.

Congratulations you are the latest victim of someone on the opposing team taking advantage of the care package glitch. The latest major glitch in Modern Warfare 2 to be exploited by douche bags with no skills.

But it’s OK help is on the way. Hit the break to find out when.

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Xbox Live Arcade raked in over $100 million last year

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/07/2010Tags: , , ,

2009 was the most profitable year for the Xbox Live Arcade service so far according to estimates by the  research group Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE). The online gaming hub made $103.4 million dollars in the 2009 fiscal year, a whopping 34% jump in profits from 2008. Recession…what recession!?

One of the major factors in the increased profits was the average cost for an XBLA game, which rose from $8.33 in 2008 to $9.12 in 2009. The extra $0.79 increase on average still isn’t that bad considering some of the great games we saw last year. It’s clear that a lot of developers and publishers are directing a lot of effort into developing quality games for the service, and it’s paying off.

EA’s Battlefield 1943 took the top honors last year as the highest selling title. To find out who else made the list hit the break.

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RIP Xbox Live service for original Xbox 2003-2010

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/05/2010Tags: , , ,

Today will mark the day that Microsoft fully turned the page from their generation one consoles and passed the torch to the Xbox 360 and beyond. On April 15 they will discontinue the Xbox Live service for the original Xbox console and it’s games. A move that will effect hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who still play on the first gen console. And yes this will also include original Xbox titles that are playable on your 360, sorry Halo 2 fans…you’re screwed.

Ending the service on the original Xbox will enable Microsoft to enhance it’s Xbox Live’s online experience. Paving the way for Project Natal, hopefully adding more features  and finally getting rid of the annoying 100 friend cap on your friends list (crossing my fingers).

Hit the break to read the full statement released today by Microsoft’s Marc Whitten. Feel free to fire off some comments and let me know what you think, because I care.

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Team Fortress 2 patch adds new Highlander mode

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/04/2010Tags: , , ,

Valve released a patch yesterday to their cartoon-inspired shooter Team Fortress 2. Which isn’t anything exciting in itself, but buried in that patch was a new Highlander mode. In Highlander mode each team consists of nine players and each team can only have one of each class. It sounds like fun, a mode where team balancing is all but guaranteed.

Unfortunately there isn’t any mention of mass decapitations, but I’m willing to look passed that. I played a few rounds today and it’s a blast. Definitely worthy of your time.

For a full breakdown of what else was included in the latest patch hit the break.

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Darksiders and Saints Row will get sequels in 2012

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/03/2010Tags: , , , ,

THQ will be releasing sequels to key franchises and top selling titles during fiscal year 2012 according to the company’s CEO Brian Farrell.

In a conference call with investors Farrell explained that THQ is gearing up for a strong 2012 with “accelerated growth with three major core game titles scheduled: Warhammer 40k Space Marine, a sequel to Darksiders and the third generation of our popular Saint’s Row franchise.” The fiscal year for 2012 runs from April of 2011 until March of 2012.

Anyone with a clue would have expected Darksiders to get a sequel. It had solid sales numbers in a very competitive release window after the holiday season and was well received by critics. The same can be said about the Saints Row franchise, it’s been a great source of income for the publisher. It turns out that being able to booze it up and ho-smack hookers makes for a fun game.

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Game kiosk company e-Play suspends operations

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/02/2010Tags: , ,

Retailers Walmart and Best Buy launched pilot programs last year to test game kiosks in some of their stores. Walmart tested the kiosks in almost eighty of their stores while Best Buy tip toed into the market with only two. Both retailers were trying to find a cost effective way to take a bite out of GameStop’s lucrative used game buy-back program. As of today both of those pilot programs will have to come to an end.

According to Industry Gamers e-Play, the company who supplied those kiosks to both Walmart and Best Buy has suspended operations. The company’s website only features the following ominous message:

e-Play, LLC has suspended operations. Thank you to all our customers. For more information call 1-866-602-6014

I called the toll-free number listed in the massage, it’s just an automated message explaining how to return games and asks if you would like to leave a message.

It looks like GameStop’s hold on the used game business will remain intact. Both Walmart and Best Buy will have to go back to the drawing board if they wish to get back into the used game marketplace.

Kiosks still left at the selected “test stores” will be removed in the coming weeks.

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UFC 2009 Undisputed gets a price cut

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/02/2010Tags: , , , ,

THQ had a lot riding on UFC 2009 Undisputed. The publisher was a financial mess and really needed their marquis MMA game to do well. Luckily for them it did.

According to an announcement by THQ earlier today UFC 2009 Undisputed has sold 3.5 million copies to date. That includes both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sales. Even with early issues with online play, the game was well received by critics (including myself) and fans of MMA bought the game in droves. And it has paid off huge for THQ.

To celebrate the game’s success it will get a price cut on both consoles, dropping the price to $29.99. A great deal for one of the best fighting sims on the market. A not-so-great deal if you were one of the 3.5 million people who forked over the full $59.99.

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Dante’s Inferno to be featured during Super Bowl XLIV

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/01/2010Tags: , , , ,

EA is spending some serious cash to get the word out on their upcoming release Dante’s Inferno. And that trend will continue when they showcase a spot in this weekend’s Super Bowl match up between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. Estimates have a regular 30 second spot during Sunday’s game costing around $3 million bucks. Not cheap.

The advertisement, titled “Hell Awaits”, will be shown sometime during the fourth quarter.

Hit the jump for more info!

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Steam sees 25% growth in ‘09

By
Chip Loan
Published: 02/01/2010Tags: , , ,

2009 was a huge year for the gaming industry. Games like Modern Warfare 2 shattered sales records and raked in profits never before seen. We are talking swimming in gold Uncle Scrooge like money. And if Steam’s user base growth is any indication then Valve is riding the success wave as well.

In 2009 the digital software distributor saw a 25 per cent growth from it’s user base in 2008. The service now has over 25 million registered users logging an average of 13 billion minutes of playing time a month.

Valve’s president Gabe Newell had this to say about their success:

“Steam turned five years old in March 2009. With the introduction of each new platform feature released over the years – such as the Steam Community, Steam Cloud, and Steamworks – we’ve seen corresponding growth in account numbers, concurrent player numbers and developer support for the platform. As such, we plan to continue to expand and grow the platform to better serve the developers supporting the open platform and millions of gamers logging in each day.”

With so many people ready to put the last nail in PC gaming’s coffin it’s good to see that Valve is doing everything they can to keep it relevant.

SOURCE: GamesIndustry

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Xbox dominates top game rentals of 2009

By
Chip Loan
Published: 01/29/2010Tags: , , , ,

According to Rentrak, a company who tracks video game rentals, Microsoft and the Xbox 360 “dominated” it’s top 20 list of most rented games in 2009 taking 17 out of the top 20 spots. Fallout 3 received top honors for the year.

Rentrak compiles their data by measuring “title-level performance via rental transactions from more than 65,000 DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Video Game properties in the brick-and-mortar, online, and kiosk channels across North America.” So all three major distribution methods are covered.

Interestingly enough the PlayStation 3 is nowhere to be seen on the list. The other three spots on the list not occupied by xbox 360 titles were occupied by Wii games Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Party 8.

Hit the break to see the entire list.

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Gof of War III coming March 16

By
Chip Loan
Published: 01/28/2010Tags: , , ,

PlayStation.Blog just dropped the news that Sony’s upcoming bloody epic God of War III will be attacking store shelves on March 16. That’s less than two months away!

Along with the release date Sony also revealed  the box art (shown above) and also announced a God of War III Ultimate Edition (shown below). Items featured in the box set will include a sculpted replica of Pandora’s Box, a collectible art book, and various DLC’s. No price was announced for the Ultimate Edition.

Kratos fans who need their fix before March 16 will be able to get their hands on a playable demo February 11 on the PlayStation Network.

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MLB 2K10 can make you rich

By
Chip Loan
Published: 01/28/2010Tags: , , , ,

2K Sports is throwing out a challenge to all of you Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 owners. If you buy MLB 2K10 on March 2 for either of those consoles and are the first person to pitch a perfect game within the first 60 days from the game’s release, they’ll cut you a check for $1,000,000. That’s six zeros folks…serious cheddar.

How do you qualify for the reward? First, you have to record yourself playing the full game and burn it onto a DVD. Second, you have to play against the CPU in MLB Today mode. Twin Galaxies will be taking part as the officiating body and go over each submission to make sure there is no funny business. Take note Billy Mitchell, you’ve been warned.

The contest starts March 2, 2010 at 12:01 AM PST and will run through May 1, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST. For the rest of the lagal mumbo jumbo head over to 2K Sports’ contest page.

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer demo hits Xbox Live

By
Chip Loan
Published: 01/28/2010Tags: , , ,

It’s official, EA has released a multiplayer demo for their upcoming release Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the Xbox Live Marketplace. From today until February 25th (almost a full month!) you’ll be able to enjoy playing “Rush Mode” on the Port Valdez map. The download will hog about 1.4 GB of your memory but I’m sure every kilobyte will be worth it.

Playstation owners will have to wait it out until the demo is released on the Playstation Network on February 11th in North America and February 4th for our European counterparts.

How will Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s multiplayer stack up against Modern Warfare 2? Looks like we’ll get a glimpse today.

Add Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – Demo to your Xbox 360 download queue

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Assassin’s Creed II: The Battle of Forli DLC trailer

By
Chip Loan
Published: 01/27/2010Tags: , , ,

The first of two announced DLCs for Assassin’s Creed II will be hitting Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Network tomorrow.  The Battle of Forli will unlock memory sequence 12 which will contain six new memories. Unfortunately for you Gamersocre whores the new content will not come with any new Achievements or Trophies so you’ll just have to suffer, but it does come chalk full of new content.

You’ll cross paths with Ezio, Machievelli, Caterina Sforza and the Orsi brothers, and it looks like you’ll be taking Leonardo’s flying thingamajiggy for another annoyingly difficult flight.

The DLC will cost 320 Microsoft Points or $4.00 for you Playstation users.

Check out the trailer below:

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Halo: Reach concept art megapost

By
Chip Loan
Published: 01/27/2010Tags: , , ,

Halo fans rejoice! Bungie recently released an ungodly amount of concept art for their highly anticipated Halo: Reach project. The art showcases some ideas not yet seen in the Halo series. A skull covered Spartan helmet, I’ll take two please. And you’ll notice what looks like the first handicapped Halo character, a Spartan with a robotic arm, which should prove useful in the yearly UNSC arm wrestling tournament.

Hit the jump to get your Halo fix…

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