Ticelli Bot is back with a look at Sony’s new “Long Live Play” commercial:

This new commercial from Sony’s “Long Live Play” Campaign is the best gaming commercial I’ve ever seen. Seriously. The characters look fantastic. I mean, if only this place existed, then I could fulfill my lifelong dream of playing chess against a sack person….

Being an avid PS3 gamer, I feel obligated to list the characters in the commercial to the best of my ability.

We’ve got:
82nd Airborn Soldier– Medal of Honor: Airbourne
Nathan Drake – Uncharted
Lightning – Final Fantasy XIII
Cole MacGrath – Infamous
Issac Clarke – Dead Space
Lt. Simon “Ghost” Riley – Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 2
Agent 47 – Hitman
Sweet Tooth – Twisted Metal
Baseball Player – MLB: The Show?
Solid Snake – Metal Gear Solid
Chell – Portal
Sackboy (Sackthing) – LittleBigPlanet
Kratos/Athena – God of War
Paul Phoenix – Tekken
Football Guy – FOOTBALL!!!!
Little Sister – Bioshock
Ezio Auditore– Assassin’s Creed 2 +
Ratchet – Ratchet and Clank
Rico/Hellghast– Killzone 3
Chimera – Resistance

Feel free to add and I may have missed.

Ticelli Bot majors in Computer Science and Communications and spends his non-school time watching and making movies, hiking, playing video games, and reading comics.

I hope the BSR! readers are getting to this one early, or it might not get read at all. Once the game stores open and everyone gets off work today, I have no doubt all the regulars will be swinging and kicking two Spider-Men around a couple different versions of New York City in Shattered Dimensions. I know I will be as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. Before that, the news:

As if you weren’t disappointed enough with Duke Nukem Forever, now it’s been announced that another over the top action star FPS has been delayed. Actually, that’s probably an unfair comparison. I never liked Duke and his newest game ranks about where I expected. On the other hand, I’m not really familiar with Serious Sam, so I can’t really judge. Regardless, Serious Sam 3: BFE has been delayed. It won’t make its planned date of October 18th, slipping instead to November 22nd. So, not a massive delay. I always wonder about these late postponements though. Is it a workable game that just doesn’t meet the developers pursuit of perfection, or is it terrible and this is their last ditch effort to make it useable? According to Alan Ladavac, lead programmer at developer Croteam, it’s the former:

“We have been working very hard on SS3 all the way, and especially in these recent months trying to make it for the promised October 18th.

“In the past few days, we did some reassessments, based both on internal results, and on beta testing feedback, and determined that we would want to do some more gameplay tuning, bugfixing and optimization – more than would be possible within the given timeframe.

“This is the game that we have invested a lot of love and work into, and one that we know the series’ fans are expecting a lot from. So we decided it needed one extra month of development time.

“One month it is – one month of extra tuning and polish that Serious Sam 3 deserves if we really love it and want it to be a great game.”

But delays are nothing unusual in the gaming industry, and Sam isn’t the only one being postponed this week. The first DLC pack for Dead Island has been pushed to an undisclosed date. Apparently some of the post-release tweaks have delayed the code for “Bloodbath Arena.” The new release date should be announced this week.

Medieval hack-n-slasher Cursed Crusade has also been pushed back two weeks in the U.S. While it’s still planned for October 7th in the U.K., this side of the Atlantic will be waiting until October 25th. The game looks interesting enough, but its lack of marketing and even word of mouth doesn’t bode well for it. Releasing the game into this already packed season was probably a bad idea from the start. Delaying it until after Batman:Arkham City launches could kill this one before it ever has a chance.

Speaking of which, far from being delayed, some PS3 trophy information has leaked about Batman: Arkham City. And it hints at something very cool. The trophy information leaked under the title “Pre-Order Bundle Packs.” So you can probably guess it has something to do with Robin. It’s safe to assume that Best Buy’s exclusivity on the extra character is only a timed pre-order incentive. As has been the trend for the last few years with these bonuses, he would eventually be downloadable for everyone at an additional fee. Confirming extra trophies for it makes it obvious everyone will have their chance. But that’s not the real reveal. The big news are the two trophies for Nightwing: Nightwing Revenge – Obtain 78 medals on the original Arkham City and Nightwing Bundle Pack ranked maps (as Nightwing) and Campaign Nightwing – Obtain 114 medals on the original Arkham City and Nightwing Bundle Pack campaigns (as Nightwing). Wait a minute. Nightwing? As in Dick Grayson’s post-sidekick identity? But he isn’t in the game! And he hasn’t been announced as anyone’s pre-order incentive! Now do you see why this is such a cool reveal? Further confirmation of this addition comes from a partial list of upcoming Batman toys, including a two pack of Arkham City Nightwing and Joker. [Apologies for the poor picture, I make do with what I can get.]

Remember how there was supposed to be a free DLC pack for Portal 2? Have you been waiting and waiting? It’s here. “Peer Review” should be available on your download service starting today. You can also get the complete soundtrack, “Songs to Test By,” for free from the official website. Pick up some sweet ring tones for your Android or iPhone while you’re there.

If the amount of things being fixed is any indication of the success of a beta, Battlefield 3 has a successful run. Furthermore, they aren’t shy about sharing what they’re doing to address player concerns. Here’s the list of tweaks being made as a result of beta tester feedback:

• Fixed occasional client crash when reviving.
• Fixed killcam showing glitched area under map if your killer is dead.
• Issue with spawning on dead squad mates fixed.
• Fixed a bug where shooting at a moving enemy could cause more than the intended amount of damage.
• Crosshairs for shotguns have been replaced with a new, thinner, art.
• A subtle low health screen effect has been added.
• Tweaked scores of Medals and Service Stars.
• Tweaked the Rank progression.
• Pushing prone on console will not play the animation twice.
• Fixed loss of Squad Leader after EOR at some times.
• Framerate stability fixes.
• The 3D spotting icons has been tweaked to better match the target’s visibility. Icons will show frequently less on mostly obscured targets.
• Fixed issue with crosshair disappearing after round transition.
• Fixed issue with crosshair disappearing after trying to deploy while the countdown timer still active.
• Squad list now shows specializations chosen, VOIP activity and dead squad mates.
• Non working options in squad menu fixed: “Private” flag and “Switch Teams”.

If you’ve been following this column for any amount of time you’ve probably discovered in the last few months that I love Mass Effect and simply can’t stand teh wait for Mass Effect 3. A source of great rumor, denial, rumor, semi-confirmed, denial, more rumor is the possibility of multiplayer in the franchise. Bioware has not been secretive about its desire to have a multiplayer component to the universe, possibly an MMO or separate series, but have repeatedly stated it would not be in the third game of Shepard’s trilogy. A recent rumor that seem to actually hold a little weight, along with some testers at Gamescom saying they’ve played it, is that there might actually be a few co-op missions, but it’s unclear if this would be a separate mode or somehow tied to the main game. More recently, an ad has been seen in a South African game store that says the Collector’s Edition comes with an “Online Multiplayer Pass.” That seems pretty cut and dried to me. But, there is always the possibility for this to be EA’s newly standard online pass that could be required for something similar to the Cerberus Network from ME2. Personally, I’d like to see them finish Shepard’s series off without adding a multiplayer component. But I definitely think the universe could be expanded in a multiplayer direction. Regardless, the debate sure has the internet whiners motivated.

Sony has clearly decided to step up their game when it comes to PSN titles. The company recently invested $20 million to get exclusive games on their download service. The result is the “Only on PSN” line and we’ve got details. To start, if you spend $60 on PSN during the month of October, they’ll give you a $10 rebate next month. By the way, that’s $60 anywhere – games, DLC, video rentals, PSP comics, even a PS+ membership. Which means now is a very good time to sign up for that, especially since you get 20% off these new titles for the first week if you’re a PS+ member. So what games are we talking? Check the list from the PlayStation Blog:

• October 4
• Eufloria – An addictive ambient game of space exploration and conquest, plant growth and bio-mechanical evolution. Explore a beautifully realized universe rendered in a style that is unique and compelling. Conquer asteroids in deep space and use their resources to literally grow and nurture semi-organic plants and creatures to do your bidding.
• Rochard – A fun and original space adventure game that features a resourceful hero, ominous villains, rugged machinery, big explosions, even bigger stunts and sharp one-liners. The game tests players’ coordination and wits as they use gravity to their advantage, changing it at will to solve environmental puzzles and advance through each level.
• October 11
• Sideway: New York – Help defeat Spray, a sinister tagger who wants to dominate both Sideway and the real world in this unique sidescroller that offers you the chance to leave your mark on the city.
• October 13
• Sodium Collection – A more than $35 value available for $9.99, this PlayStation Home value pack includes the SodiumOne Pilot’s Jacket, which unlocks the full 50-level tank combat Salt Shooter game, and weapon upgrades for your SodiumOne tank. Also included is a variety of upgrades for Sodium 2: Project Velocity, a high-speed, free-to-play, futuristic multiplayer racing game exclusive to PlayStation Home, and the wildly-popular Blaster’s Paradise personal space, which hosts a tabletop version of Salt Shooter. Buy from the PlayStation Store and play in PlayStation Home.
• October 18
• Okabu – An action-puzzler, where players will guide Kumulo, Nimbe and four cloud-flying heroes as they battle to save their people and their world from the industrialized threat of the Doza. Dive into a hyper-tactile toybox world filled with a huge number of puzzles, playthings, adorable creatures and devious machines spread across an epic co-op campaign.
• Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken – Annihilate an evil penguin regime in this cinematic platform adventure game offering full solo and co-op campaigns with stereoscopic 3D support. Destroy enemies with a slew of weapons and illuminate the secrets to his past while uncovering the real enemies of Albatropolis. [I’ve played a PC demo of this one. Very fun, very humorous, but a little clunky on the controls. Hopefully that will be better on console.]
• October 25
• inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood – Vampires swarm New Marais, and revered superhero Cole MacGrath has been bitten. To save his soul and city, he has just one night to find and kill the head vampire. Featuring hours of new gameplay, themed environment settings and new characters/enemies, Festival of Blood explores the darker side of the inFAMOUS universe.
• PixelJunk SideScroller – Q-Games goes old-school with a completely retro side-scrolling shooter that reinvents the genre from the ground up while maintaining that nostalgic feeling. Dodge flurries of alien bullets and strategically upgrade weapons while battling through sweeping stages full of hazardous fluid and endless shooting mayhem.

In addition to those games, “Only on PSN” will also be offering some new releases from their classics library. If you were ever a fan of God Hand, GrimGrimoire, Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, Odin Sphere and Ring of Red now’s the time to play them all again.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is coming early next year, and the preorder bonuses have been announced. For starters, Amazon will get you the Omega Boss Battle, a unique enemy coliseum battle with a boss who joins your party upon his defeat. GameStop will give you an alternative costume for Serah. And Best Buy will give you hardcover novella tying the first and second games together. So an alternate costume (lame), a collectible book (great for readers and collectors), or an extra party member with the strength of a boss (awesome)? Assuming Omega doesn’t end up as a DLC later down the line, I’d say Amazon wins this one.

It appears development is well underway on Dead Space 3, and some of the new mechanics look very interesting. Apparently Isaac’s descent into madness is nearly complete, as there are now two of him on screen at once. The first is the “normal” Isaac you’re used to controlling as you dismember aliens. The other is “Shadow” Isaac, an imaginary fragment of his personality that can offer tips alongside his bitterly cruel teasing and namecalling. Furthermore, the environment looks to be an ice planet with blizzard conditions where Isaac will take on the “hive mind.” I wonder if he’ll have to cut open a tauntaun to keep his shadow self warm?

If Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 aren’t going to be enough death and destruction for you, there’s good news. Ubisoft has confirmed March 6, 2012 as the release date for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Then again, this isn’t the first release date we’ve heard for this one. I expect it to stick though, as they’ve also announced plans for the beta in January.

And now we go full circle, ending as we began, with news of a delay. This time it’s Payday: The Heist. This is the capstone of Sony’s PSN Play promotion and was intended for release this week. However, according to the press release, “Word on the street is that to pull off the biggest score, a heist must be planned and outlined to the very last detail with perfect team members, unbeatable weapons and unrecognizable disguises. That being said, SOE & Overkill Software need a little more time to assemble the ideal squad and attack strategy for our highly anticipated adrenaline-pumping first person shooter, Payday: The Heist.” The plan is still to release this month. The preorder promotion has been extended, and you’ll still get the title for free if you qualified for it with the rest of the PSN Play games.

That finishes this week’s early edition of VGQH. Some high, some low, some intriguing, and some very exciting (Nightwing!!!). Check back Friday for the late edition and let us know what you think of any games dropping this week (especially Shattered Dimensions).

Multiplatform:
Rage (PS3, 360, PC)
Dark Souls (PS3, 360)
NBA 2K12 (PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC)
Spider-man: Edge of Time (PS3, 360, Wii, DS, 3DS)
Just Dance 3 (PS3, 360, Wii)

Nintendo:
Face Racers: Photo Finish (3DS)
Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove (3DS)

Rage comes from the creators of Doom. This sort of seems to cross that game with Fallout and Red Faction. Definitely something to watch if you like FPS.

Spider-man: Edge of Time is where the real excitement should be this week. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions defied expectations by moving the superhero back into a level environment instead of open world and still being, dare I say it, Amazing. Part of what made the last title so great was the inclusion of four Spider-Men (Amazing, Ultimate, Noir, and 2099), complete with separate voices from the character’s animated past. This latest entry keeps only two versions of the hero, Amazing and 2099, but lets them interact with one another’s environment across 100 years of time. Actions you take as Amazing Spider-Man can change not only the environment, but also the difficulty, and existence, of certain battles for his future counterpart. I have high expectations for this game and I’d hate to see it overshadowed in such a cluttered season for games, especially with Batman: Arkham City coming in a couple weeks.

This is the last VGQH for the month of September. And it will probably be the last one anyone reads for a few months, because the big games are coming hard and fast through November. Check out the quarterly preorder breakdown. You’ll want to know what and where to order to maximize your gaming dollar and get all the best incentives. On to the news:

If you like downloadable games, you know thatgamecompany has made some amazing additions to the PSN catalog with flOw and flower. The developer has another game on the horizon and they’ve announced a release window. The beta for Journey uncovered a few bugs they need to iron out, but the game is set for Spring 2012. This is probably good timing. Releasing this fall/winter puts the unique game against some huge blockbusters that will be eating gamer dollars and hours. And this game definitely looks like it will need a dedicated experience. The player character appears to just be wandering through the desert, but the open world has an awesome amount of locations and other things to find. While it is a single player experience, you may bump into other players and choose to travel together. But with no way to chat, interacting with them will be a unique experience. If you decide to interact at all. You can always just walk away from your newfound companion.

Obviously we can’t have a release announcement without at least two delays. That’s just the world of games. The two latest casualties will be a disappointment for fighting fans. King of Fighters XIII has been pushed back from its October date to November 22nd. Skullgirls is the other victim, moving from late 2011 to first quarter 2012. Not a huge delay, and the developers think this extra time will make a world of difference in polish.

Here’s an obvious one for you. Dead Island, the recent FPM (first-person melee) zombie smashing hit, has been optioned for movie rights by Lionsgate. Let’s see, a game inspired by zombie movies is being made into a movie. Where have I heard that one before? It should also come as no surprise that this decision doesn’t seem to be inspired by the game, so much as its internet fad trailer – which really doesn’t represent the tone of the game at all. From Lionsgate’s announcement: “Like the hundreds of journalists and millions of fans who were so passionate and vocal about the Dead Island trailer, we too were awestruck. This is exactly the type of property we’re looking to adapt at Lionsgate – it’s sophisticated, edgy, and a true elevation of a genre that we know and love. It also has built in brand recognition around the world, and franchise potential.” So how are they going to set this apart from every other zombie movie?

Not enough zombie for you? Released only in Japan, Yakuza: Of the End was a non-canon addition to franchise that introduced zombies. Western gamers have been asking for the game and a recent trademark filing in Europe indicates that may finally be happening. SEGA recently filed a claim for the video game title Yakuza: Dead Souls. It’s unlikely this is related to From Software’s titles of a similar name. Without details we’re only left with an educated guess. But, a port of the Japanese zombie mafia game is more likely than a whole new entry with such an ominous name.

How good are you at Battlefield? Think you’ll be good enough at Battlefield 3 to claim a share of the $1.6million prize pool being offered by DICE? They’ve teamed up with Virgin Gaming to sponsor a console-only contest (exact format details haven’t been released) that will take place primarily online, with a live event for the finals early next year. The game releases October 25, but you can pre-register for the contest here.

If you’re a FIFA fan, you should check out the FIFA 12 Tour. They’re taking the game on tour through 40 cities in six weeks. They’ll be rolling in a fully decorated van decked out with 15 PS3 systems. Check the tour dates to see if they’re coming to your city. Then hit the show to win prizes from Adidas and a chance to win your own PS3.

Starbreeze Studios generated some controversy when they recently announced a reboot of the Syndicate franchise. Turning a popular isometric strategy game into an FPS didn’t necessarily sit well with the series’ fans. If it still sounds like something you want to play, the release date has been announced. You can evaluate the change for yourself on February 21st.

If you played Shank when it released to PSN and XBLA last year, and you’re like most of the other people who played it, you’ve been wanting more. You got it. Klei Entertainment has announced Shank 2, with more polish and split screen co-op, will be hitting your download service “early” next year. They’ve updated the weapons, combat, and controls. Plus, you can now use enemy weapons against them. If you like 2D side-scrollers and awesome, comic-style art, this series is for you.

Gran Turismo 5. Fans of this series are nothing if not patient. I have vague recollections about this game being announced for PS2, then getting shifted to a launch title for PS3. Then seeing pieces and parts of it being released for years before it finally came out in November. [I may have some dates wrong here, but I don’t think I’m that far off. Feel free to lambast me in the comments if I’m wrong.] Then, we heard about the Spec 2.0 update that was to add new content, but never heard a date for it. Kazunori Yamauchi announced Wednesday, via Twitter, that the update will be available the third week of October, with some additional DLC in the following week. Of course, no further details about what Spec 2.0 would mean, or what would be in the DLC, were announced.

Like pretty much everyone else who played it, I loved Heavy Rain. As great as it was, you’d think a sequel would be slam dunk cash-in, even though it wouldn’t make any sense in the story’s context. The fact is, it would be. But what if there were one last businessman on the planet that didn’t care? In addition to calling Atari “fucking idiots” for the way they marketed Indigo Prophecy, David Cage of Quantic Dream has recently announced there will be no Heavy Rain 2. As much as I’d like to play another game like the first one, I agree with him, and mostly agree with his reasons:

“Let me be stupid for one second; I’m not in this business to make money. I wrote Heavy Rain because I was excited about it, because there was something to say.

“Yeah I could make Heavy Rain 2, but I’ve said what I’ve had to say about it. That’s the strength of Quantic Dream, to have the capacity to create new ideas, to make something that breaks ground.

“I don’t know what to say. I guess I don’t have a long-term strategy for my career. It’s certainly not to make as much money as possible though. I see myself as an author, really. I just trust my instinct. I think fans of what I do want me to do that too.

“I’m an old game creator. I’m 42 this year. There are so many old game designers who have passion when they are young and they get a bit a bit older and the passion falls away. They get a family, and suddenly they think ‘okay I need to make as much money as I can for my family – this is what matters.’ I’ve not reached that stage yet.

“I still think I’m doing something important. That may sound naïve in this industry, but I still think I’m here to be creative. I just have a company because I need that structure to develop my ideas.”

Playstation Home got a big update this week. Hear those crickets chirping? It’s because nobody cares! Sorry, Sony. Home is lame. Devote your resources to something awesome.

Chrono Trigger is coming to PSN on October 4th. This classic JRPG from the SNES era set many precedents that still work in gaming today, including alternate endings, and some of the early concepts for open worlds where you can do certain missions in the order you choose. The announcement on the US PlayStation Blog didn’t mention a price, or which version of the game was coming. Most likely it will be the laggy PSOne version that came in the Final Fantasy Chronicles set, complete with crazy load times. An interesting side note to this, someone in the comments mentioned wanting to play the sequel, Chrono Cross, instead. To which the original poster replied with “Well, you might not have to wait that much longer…” Hmmm.

Continuing the series tradition, NBA Jam On Fire Edition will have some extra characters. EA has tapped one of their own franchises for the a bonus team of Elise, Kaori, and Mac of SSX fame to make up an unlockable team. I’m expecting big air from this trio. The addition is an obvious promotional set up, considering the SSX reboot is coming in January. NBA Jam will be hitting your download service in October.

That wraps up September. I’ll be back on Tuesday for another Quick Hits, summarizing the weekend’s best gaming news. Be sure to check out the 4th Quarter Preorder Breakdown. The number of awesome games coming is just crazy. Unless you’ve got infinite time and money, you’ll need to do a little planning to focus your efforts on the best of the best.

Can you believe it? Summer’s over, fall is rushing in with its usual set of blockbuster games and you have to filter through them all. Which ones do I need to preorder for the best incentives? Which ones do I need but can wait for the holidays and should be on my Amazon wish list? Even if you’re on GameFly, there are a few games you’ll want on release day for the extra bonuses and to quash your own impatience. And, speaking of holiday wish lists, why not tell your friends and family to get you all of the games instead of just one or two by getting you a GameFly subscription. If you’re familiar with Netflix/Qwikster, you know the drill. I’ve had mine for about a year and now I can’t imagine gaming without it.

As for the breakdown, it’ll follow the typical format, usually one game per week. By default, the link will take you to Amazon, unless another retailer has a much better preorder incentive. Generally speaking, Amazon is tough to beat. Their add-ons, physical or digital, are competitive and they usually include an additional credit on a future games purchase. On the other hand, GameStop gives you a decent value for trading in older games to get the new ones cheaper, and Best Buy has one of the best incentives for one of my top games this quarter. It’s also important to remember that Gamestop has started giving double PowerUp points on top shelf games that are fully paid in advance. Choose carefully, and be sure to get the most out of your gaming dollars.

10/4/11
If you’re a hardcore FPS player or a difficulty masochist you have two obvious choices – Rage and Dark Souls, respectively. But the true geeks of Big Shiny Robot! are looking at only one game today, Spider-man: Edge of Time. The last game, Shattered Dimensions, was amazing and this new entry looks almost as good. You play as two Spider-Men, Amazing and 2099. Both are good choices, but I’ll miss the Noir segments. As for preordering, Amazon doesn’t have the extra credit deal, which means their one bonus costume (Future Foundation) loses out to GameStop‘s four Identity Crisis costumes (Dusk, Hornet, Prodigy, and Ricochet). Of course, all of these will eventually be available as DLC, but which one(s) do you want for free immediately?

10/11/11
This is seriously a bad week in a great quarter. Pretty much everything coming out can wait. But I do want to mention one title just because I thought it was fantastic from the moment I first heard about it. Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster from DoubleFine is such a brilliant idea. It’s an Kinect-eractive episode of Sesame Street. What more needs to be said? Except that I just made up that word, but I think it’s workable. Microsoft should buy it off me. The only preorder bonus I found was through GameStop (click the title), and they’re offering an HD movie rental via XBox Live with purchase. That’ll be good for a cartoon to go along with the kids’ game you just bought. Get this one and play it with your kids.

10/18/11
It should come as no surprise that Minute to Win It takes the top spot this week. What a great concept for a game. Take a stupid game show, and make an even more stupid interactive experience. Good job, SouthPeak Interactive. Hah! Seriously, this week’s game is one you should have a training program for to make sure you don’t sprain a thumb or get an awesomeness overload injury to your brain. Batman: Arkham City (Best Buy) is Rocksteady’s follow up to possibly the best superhero game ever made. And Best Buy scored huge with their incentive, locking in the exclusive Robin playable character. If Boy Wonder isn’t your thing, you can get the standard $10 credit and the Arkham City comic book from Amazon, or the Joker’s Challenge Carnival Map from GameStop.

10/25/11
The first of the big guns in the FPS market hits today so I have to feature it. But, if it’s not your bag, and your kids have had enough Sesame Street, take a look at Disney Universe. But I digress. Battlefield 3 is the clear winner this week. All preorders should get you the Back to Karkand expansion pack. Individual extras are also available from each retailer. Best Buy’s seems weakest with only eight multiplayer skins. GameStop’s Physical Warfare pack gets you the DAO-12 shotgun, Flash Suppressor, Type 88 LMG, and Flachette Ammo. Amazon’s bonus is the Dog Tag Pack that gets you a whole slew of Battlefield 2 bonus content, upgraded for the Frostbite 2.0 engine.

11/1/11
What a pretty date. Think someone’s going to take advantage of all those ones to boost their marketing campaign? You betcha. Same deal with a similar gimmick ten days later. Meantime, Nathan Drake is no Bruce Wayne, but Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is just as high on my list of must play games. Preorders vary a little bit, but only make a real difference in online play. Amazon expands your clip for the Para 9 and G-MAL, and also includes a carpet bombing kickback that lets you throw three grenades at once. GameStop eschews the clip expansion in favor of a pretty cool Penny Arcade poster and a Creepy Crawler kickback that turns you into a swarm of spiders (especially effective when battling arachnaphobes). Best Buy has a regeneration kickback, but no extra items.

11/8/11 & 11/11/11
The other side of the Battlefield 3 release is its biggest competitor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Oddly, the only preorder incentive I see is a wallpaper through Amazon and a $10 credit towards a “Turtle Beach Call of Duty:MW3 Ear Force gaming Headset.” Which is cool, if you wanted one of those anyway.

But this week also has a date with bunch of ones in it, and that’s too good a scam for marketers to pass up. So there’s another big title coming you won’t want to miss. Conveniently enough, I wouldn’t expect the audiences to overlap much between Modern Warfare 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The universal preorder bonus is a physical map of the game world (also available in the collector’s edition), but Amazon ups the ante with their $10 credit.

Just for fun, this week gets a third nod. Coincidentally it’s the third family friendly title I’m recommending. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 continues melding bricks with another great multimedia franchise. Really, you can’t go wrong with LEGO games. They’re all the same, but they’re all fun. If you’re a miser, Amazon’s standard $10 credit is in effect. But I’m really liking GameStop’s Dumbledore’s Army T-Shirt with preorder.

11/15/11
As much as the nerd in me would like to showcase Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 this week, Capcom’s supidity and avarice with releasing the same game multiple times means I’m skipping it. Another honorable mention is Saint’s Row: The Third, which looks ridiculous but I’d be willing to highlight anyway if it weren’t for this week’s truly biggest game, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, the third game in this quarter’s triumvirate of games I must play before someone gets hurt. The link will take you to GameStop, where preordering upgrades you to the Signature Edition (bonus single player mission, multiplayer character, three upgrades to weapon capacity, and a short animated film). Best Buy will get you the Crusader multiplayer skin, while it appears Amazon isn’t even offering their $10 credit.

11/20/11
It’s not a typical Tuesday release, but who cares what day you get it when it’s The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. No one has preorder offers up yet, but I’d expect them before release. In the meantime, double your PowerUp points at GameStop by pre-paying in full, or spend some of those $10 Amazon credits you’ve been earning.

12/20/11
The end of November tends to be the end of the big holiday releases. If you’ve already bought most of these games you have an open month to finish them. You should also be spending this time refining that Christmas list to make sure you get everything you’ve skipped for the last two months. Then again, you may have no friends left by the time Christmas rolls around. That’s because the MMO that will probably suck in everyone who’s been avoiding them for years comes out today. Star Wars: The Old Republic may even spell the end of Big Shiny Robot! as we are all Star Wars fans and very likely to succumb to this gaming trap. Worse yet, my lousy computer that could have saved me by not being able to run this game is swiftly dying, meaning I’ll probably have a much better system by release date. If you’re already planning to join the addiction, the only preorder incentive available as I write this is early access and an alternate lightsaber crystal from Amazon. The real junkies will, of course, be getting the collector’s edition for a generous collection of physical and digital extras.

And that about does it for 2011. Sure, I skipped a few great games. But in such a crowded market, one has to pick and choose. I hope you enjoy your holiday games. While you’re loading all of these games into your Amazon cart, don’t forget to pick out a few things for your spouse and children. If they don’t get presents, you don’t get any peace to play with yours.

Hi everybody! And welcome back to VGQH. While I’m sure no one actually missed me, I took last week off to hunt antelope. Which, I’m happy to announce, was a success. Seems all of that time I’ve spent behind a virtual sniper scope has finally paid off. I also enjoyed spending time with family, seeing Adam Warrock and MegaRan perform Wednesday night (where I finally met Dagobot in person), and running around Capitol Reef National Park. But now it’s time to get back to some serious gaming… and passing on all the latest bits of news. Because I’ve been out of it for a while, some of this will probably be old hat to some readers. But I’ll try to skim over most of the early stuff.

First up: Despite not having a confirmed release date, Just Add Water has announced that the HD remake of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath has been delayed. The developer has apparently reached the bug fixing part of the beta phase and decided they need more time. This doesn’t bode well for the game. Having to delay a game just to work out bugs you found in beta is not a good sign. That’s sort of like adding $10million more to a film’s effects budget a month before it releases.

Felicia Day has a new role in Mark of the Assassin, the new story DLC for Dragon Age II. The add-on, scheduled for October 11th, has Hawke and company seeking a precious jewel, the Heart of Many. Naturally, the jewel is protected by traps, Orlesian soldiers, and monsters. But why am I excited about this? It’s not the story. It’s Felicia Day, one of the sexiest nerds around and best known for The Guild and Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. You may also recognize her from other Whedon projects (Buffy and Dollhouse), myriad TV roles, and the voice of Veronica in Fallout: New Vegas. Yummy. Loves me a ginger….

I’m quite certain this is old news for many of you, but it’s about Batman Arkham City, which means it’s too cool to pass up. Episode 421 of GTTV has a great feature on the game, highlighting new gadgets (including some stolen from Mr. Freeze) and the reveal of a new villain, Deadshot. Apparently Batman will be investigating murder scenes to learn who’s next on Deadshot’s kill list. Sounds like side missions, but still sounds good. And his look fits the game perfectly.

Just to mix it up, let’s take a break from the awesome news and switch to “huh?!?” In a bizarre piece of self-serving marketing Saints’ Row: The Third will have developer Tomonubu Itagaki as a preset character in the creation screen. What? Why? Sure the guys got a signature look, with his leather jacket and “sweet bro” shades, but does anyone want to swing around a purple dildo sword while dressed as a Japanese hipster? This is typical THQ inside marketing. Itagaki’s Valhalla Studios is currently creating Devil’s Third for the publisher. Frankly, this game looked too ridiculous to play anyway, so I don’t really care, but I do have to wonder if THQ has any self-respect left.

Have you been playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution and loving virtually every minute of it? If you’ve loved the stealth based action but hate the clunky boss battles, you’re like everyone else who’s played it. So why do the boss fights break up the flow so badly? And why are they so unintuitive? It turns out that Eidos Montreal actually outsourced the boss fights to GRIP Entertainment. This is a common practice in game development. Often the game’s scope is so massive that certain elements, like multiplayer or puzzle levels, get made by a different developer. Ultimately, Eidos chose to include the levels so the blame is squarely on their shoulders. In GRIP’s defense, the boss battles aren’t necessarily inherently flawed, they just break up the flow and rhythm of the rest of the game. It’s clearly too late now, but maybe Eidos should consider handling such key elements personally on their next game.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of FPS or competitive online multiplayer, so Battlefield 3 (October 25th) doesn’t hold much appeal. But I also know I’m in the minority on that topic, so let’s check out the details on the game’s multiplayer modes:

• Team Deathmatch: Two teams, 12 players each, tight maps, no vehicles
• Squad Deathmatch: Four squads of four, needs a good Engineer to maintain your Infantry Fighting Vehicle
• Rush and Squad Rush: Similar to Bad Company‘s mode, M-COM stations can only be armed/disarmed – not destroyed, infinite defenders, tickets for attackers
• Conquest: Frantic but strategic, capture and hold flags
• Nine maps, five modes each. All levels can be played without vehicles in “Infantry Only” mode. “Hardcore” mode also available in each map/mode.

Well, as long as we’re in FPS mode, might as well mention something about Call of Duty: Elite while I’m at it. The beta was opened last week. The full version should be launching on November 8th, with Modern Warfare 3. If you want in on the beta, better sign up here.

Also worth noting in the battle of the FPS between Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 is that the console fight has been extended. Activision has a strong relationship with Microsoft that has led to an exclusive window on CoD DLC. DICE and Sony have now teamed up to create their own exclusivity deal, bringing all Battlefield 3 content to the PS3 a week before XBox 360.

Have you missed out on the Assassin’s Creed series so far? Are you some sort of mental defect? You’ve got some catching up to do. If you just missed the first game, and picked up the series as Ezio, Ubisoft is giving you a chance to get up to speed. Exclusively to PS3, if you buy Assassin’s Creed Revelations when it releases on November 15th, you’ll get a free, downloadable copy of the first game. That first game can be a little clunky and repetitive, but it set a strong foundation for what is now one of my favorite franchises. And it will definitely be a good idea to refresh yourself on Altair’s story. The finale of Ezio’s tale will have you controlling his ancestor at times as he searches for Altair’s lost secrets.

Yet another game with strong potential but a weak beginning, Homefront is looking to become a franchise as well. THQ has contracted Crytek to develop the sequel. The first game had solid concepts that just didn’t get off the ground due to some weak elements in an already crowded FPS market. Crytek has a good track record with Crysis though. This may be the Assassin’s Creed of FPS, turning good concepts into a great game with the second outing. You’ll have to wait to find out though, it’s current listed for the 2014 fiscal year. [BTW, Crytek’s first Crysis game will be hitting your console download service on or around October 4th.]

If there’s one thing Capcom is good at, it’s wringing every last cent out of a property. Beginning with the 924 different versions of Street Fighter II, the company has learned how to gain revenue while adding very little of value. This became quite clear with the announcement of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Apparently a $60 version of the game wasn’t enough, they now have to make a bigger version for $40. How’s that middle finger look to you, early adopters? Adding insult to injury though, is the fact that this still isn’t the “Ultimate” version. Sometime after release, the new iteration will be getting a costume add-on pack, as well as DLC that includes a whole new mode. Seriously, why even consider buying this one? Just wait three months for the Ultimate Extra Special Awesomized addition that has this DLC and the extra characters, Spider-Ham and Arthur’s Shorts.

If you still don’t own a PS3 by now, you probably aren’t getting one. Which makes the new bundle Sony has created for Uncharted 3 seem pretty silly. It’s a 320GB PS3, in a pretty Nathan Drake box, with one controller and a copy of the game. It also includes one free month of PlayStation Plus. But why? It’s not a special deal, it doesn’t look any different. And if you haven’t played the first two Uncharted games (which are awesome), why would you suddenly decide on a new system for the third one? Maybe Sony’s just marketing to recent YLOD sufferers, giving them a reason to come back to the console after their first one has failed?

Bethesda is pretty good at getting all-star voice casts, and it appears Skyrim‘s 60,000 lines of dialogue amongst 70 actors will be no exception. Joan Allen (some Bourne films, Pleasantville), Max von Sydow (Bond’s Blofeld, Ghostbusters II‘s Vigo, and Emperor Ming), Christopher Plummer (General Chang, The Undiscovered Country), Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman), and Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas) are just some of the names my fellow nerds will love to see.

I don’t want to ignore one of the biggest pieces of news from the last week, but CitizenBot already has a thorough story on the changes at Netflix/Qwikster, including the addition of video games to their mailing service. If you haven’t left them behind already, this could be a good move for you. Frankly, most games are probably still a better value at Redbox. And if you really play a lot, you should already have Gamefly. At this point, I’m sticking with GameFly. They’re knowledgeable about, and dedicated to, games. Netflix/Qwikster’s missteps lately don’t give me enough hope to transfer my gaming dollar.

I know this has been an extra long edition of VGQH, so I’ll skip the final editorial and leave you with this ” target=”_blank”>video. What is Sony up to? Seriously, please head over to “> YouTube and give me your theory on what this is advertising. We’ve got two more editions of VGQH to discuss it before their reveal date of October 5th.

Multi-platform:
FIFA Soccer 12 (Wii, 3DS, PS3, PS2, PSP, 360, PC)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (Wii, PS3, 360)
Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2012 (Wii, PS3, 360)
X-Men: Destiny (Wii, DS, PS3, 360)

Nintendo:
Big Beach Fun Pack (Wii)
Gameshow Fun Pack (Wii)
Bigfoot: King of Crush (Wii)
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (3DS)

Sony:
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Classic Trilogy HD (PS3)
ICO and The Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection (PS3)
Child of Eden (PS3)

XBox 360:
Air Conflicts: Secret Wars (coming to PS3 in November)

No surprises this week. X-Men: Destiny is the obvious go to for all the nerds reading Big Shiny Robot!, myself included. The HD collections on PS3 are both good if you liked or missed the originals. I came to ICO late in the game, after it became such a cult classic. I can see the draw, but by the time I played it I was kind of disappointed with the handholding mechanic (literally, holding hands to make the stupid bitch do her job). But it is beautiful, even on PS2. Seeing it in HD should be something special. Other than that, it’s time to look forward to Rage and Spider-Man.

I look forward to the NHL’s opening day like fat girls look forward to the new Twilight baby making movie. I hear in this one he knocks her boots so hard she trades her Timberlands in for a wheel chair. That being said, it should come as no surprise that the one video game title I look forward to the most is not the one where I’m fighting dragons with my wizard stick but the one where I’m slamming the opposing teams leading scorer into the side boards. September 13 could have not have come soon enough. Or so I thought. . . . .

If you purchased NHL 12 and have made any attempt to play the game online, then you are already familiar with the freezing bug that has yet to be addressed by EA Sports. On the game’s release day, forums across the internet were flooded with angry posts from players all over the world complaining about the freezing bug that stretched across all platforms. The game’s most popular modes, “Be A Pro Mode” and “Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT)”, were the most plagued. I was unable to play more than two games at a time in either mode without the game freezing up, forcing me to restart.

Luckily, two days after the game’s release, someone was able to figure out a quick install/delete/restart trick that has helped me to avoid any freezing problems since. Instructions can be found here http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/7534597.page) . The overall consensus is that games “New Tuner Set” is to blame for the freezing. It’s insane to me that a such a small feature could cause such a huge problem. Hey EA! Get better testers! People are going to buy Madden no matter what. Move some of the reliable guys from the FIFA department over and have them run through some exhibition games. Better yet, answer my friggen emails. I will test the crap the out of a hockey game.

With the freezing issue solved, I was able to enjoy the game the way I hoped I would.

Because I was forced to wear woman’s shorts and kick a soccer ball around for damn near 16 years I have thoroughly enjoyed the games “Be A Pro Mode” since it’s addition a few years ago. BAP allows to either create your own or choose an existing player and control them through their career. Your coach will start you out with limited ice time, but as you complete tasks from your coach your playing time increases allowing you more chances to raise your numbers. When you finish your shifts on the ice you can sit in on the action or choose to simulate to your next shift. BAP is definitely a fan favorite and with the additions they made this season I can’t imagine popularity will take a hit.

New this year is the “Legends in NHL 12” feature. By completing player specific tasks within the game you can unlock a few of the NHL’s most famous players. Steve Yzerman, Borje Salming, Patrick Roy, Jeremy Roenick, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Ray Bourque, Chris Chelios, and Wayne Gretzky can all be added to any team once they are unlocked. Strangely enough, yelling at Chris Chelios soo much he asks another player on the ice to switch spots with him, will not gain you an XP in the game. Yeah I did that. Bitch Chelios. I didn’t play in any of the Cup Final games that lead to Detroit’s last championship either. Can I have a ring too?

A new physics engine makes this installment the the smoothest yet. Every hit is different, the puck seems more “live”, and the animation of the goalies is nuts. If you are a hardcore hockey gamer there is no reason not to jump all over this game. With a growing online community of competitive players, I really think the NHL gaming community is one of the best out there. I have yet to encounter any overly racist, homophobic 12 year old’s. That’s a huge plus for serious online gamers.

If you are remotely interested in trying your hand at a hockey, maybe you should try out last years model instead of dropping the $60 on a game that has yet to be patched. With the adjustable difficulty levels on both versions you can jump in where ever you feel comfortable and learn the basics before deciding to update to NHL 12. But if you’re like me, you’ve already earned Gordon Bombay like numbers and had a killer time doing so. Despite the in game freezing, Ea has once again proved why 2K should stay on the court and out of the rink.

If anyone out there wants to lace up and skate it out, hit me up on Xbox Live, Patrick 3009.

DagoBot is back with more PAX coverage!

My love of video games is almost matched by my love for funny books. One company stands heads and shoulders above it’s competition for consistently putting out high quality stories and masterful visuals based on video game properties. But, that’s not all Dark Horse does. I met up with Dark Horse Editor, Dave Marshall at PAX Prime 2011 and got to pick his brain about Mass Effect, Dragon Age & Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Big Shiny Robot!: What does Dark Horse have coming out this Fall that the BSR readership needs to get their hands on?

Dave Marshall: We have a bunch of exciting titles that we are talking about at this show. Star Wars: The Old Republic, we are working on the third series right now. We are doing Mass Effect comics. We are launching our third series in October. We are just starting to talk about Dragon Age comics. Not much else to say there other than it’s coming. And…The Art Of The Mass Effect Universe. It’s a really beautiful coffee table art book that will cover concept art for all three games. We are also doing Rage comics..with a collection of that series coming out in November and we are doing Valve comics that also comes out in November that collects all of the Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2 comics that Valve produced.

BSR!: Is your primary focus on Video Game I.P.’s or Franchises?

 

DM: Yes, that is my focus. Although I also work pretty heavily on our Star Wars line. This year is our twentieth anniversary of doing Star Wars comics and in addition to that I do things like our Avatar: The Last Airbender comics, and Conan comics.

 

BSR!: As far as working with the Mass Effect universe, Are you working on stand alone stories or do these work as a bridge between the games?

 

DM: Each series is a stand alone story. But, they are also all canonical. That’s a really important part of all the video game related stuff that Dark Horse does. We work directly with the developers. It’s not some tangental thing that we are off doing on our own that they just approve. Our Star Wars: The Old Republic comics are written by Alexander Freed. Who is the lead writer on the game. Our Mass Effect comics are written by Mac Walters. Lead writer of Mass Effect 2 & 3. These guys develop these stories. They build them into the larger canon of the games. We do create them in such a way that you can pick up any volume and know whats going on. You could be a science fiction comics fan and never have played Mass Effect and enjoy it. But we work very hard to have it fit into the larger universe in a meaningful way.

 

BSR!: Are the stories developed for the comics ideas that were left out of the games or things that maybe didn’t fit with the direction that the game was going in? Or were these ideas that were built on the foundation that they had already set?

 

DM: The kernels of these ideas come from all kinds of places. For Mass Effect: Invasion for example, Mac Walters really loves the character Aria T’Loak so it’s going to follow Aria defending her space station Omega against these monsters that have this sort of Reaper influence. So, it’s not necessarily something that is left out of Mass Effect 3 but gives a real lead in to what the galaxy is going to be like when people jump into Mass Effect.

 

BSR!: After Mass Effect 3 comes out and we get the conclusion of Shepherds epic story, do you plan on continuing with the universe?

 

DM: We do plan on continuing all of our programs. We don’t have anything announced at this time. Certainly we love working with Bioware, We love these games. We want to continue working on them for as long as fans are buying the books.

BSR!: Are people picking up the comics and then getting the game? Or vice versa?

 

DM: You know, anecdotally yes. We always like to think that we are telling stories that will be enjoyable even if you have no history with the game. Of course, the majority of our audiences are people that know and love these franchises. And that’s cool. It’s what brought us to it as editors and as creators. So, you know we are happy to make books for them and if we bring along some new people along the way all the better.

 

BSR!: Are these stories are available in trade paperbacks as well?

 

DM: Yep, all of our comics are coming out in trades. The Rage series comes out in November and the second Mass Effect series that we did, Mass Effect: Evolution, which tells the origin of the Elusive man that’s coming out in October. The same month as Mass Effect: Invasion. Star Wars: The Old Republic, the first two series, Blood Of The Empire and Threat Of Peace are both in trade now. And…The Lost Suns, which we are doing right now, will be out in the winter.

 

BSR!: Looking ahead to 2012, what’s on the horizon?

 

DM: Like I said, more details are coming in terms of Dragon Age. Like with Mass Effect, we are working directly with the core development team to tell a story that Dragon Age fans are going to get really excited about and will help introduce those unfamiliar to the universe. As a general rule, I like to start working on a comic series a year before the first issue goes on sale. So, that can give you some sense of how far out we are thinking.

 

BSR!: Do you play video games yourself?

 

DM: Oh, of course yeah. I mean, that’s really a big part of how Dark Horse got into this. Is that I and other editors are big gamers. We were just astonished at how few video game comics had come out and how few had been successful. We really tried to reverse engineer that. Sort of figured out, why is it this way? Why aren’t these comics being made? Why aren’t they succeeding and just getting in there and try to figure out how to make it work.

 

BSR!: What franchises or properties haven’t you worked with that you would love to get a crack at? And do it the right way.

 

DM: Well, we come to shows like PAX specifically to go to demos and see what’s exciting. In a lot of ways it’s no brainers. Things like Fallout. Which we did the Fallout: New Vegas graphic novel. Things like the The Elder Scrolls. Things like Red Dead Redemption. These great critically acclaimed popular franchises that have powerful stories. They have compelling characters. They have worlds that extend beyond the experience of getting together and shooting a bunch of your friends. We get inspired by that it really sparks our imaginations. We don’t go after any comic series that we can’t work directly with the developer. Where we can’t contribute in an important and significant way to the larger arc of what they’re creating.

Bioware & Dark Horse Comics present ‘The Art Of The Mass Effect Universe’ dropping in February 2012.

Star Wars: The Old Republic ‘The Lost Suns’ the series consist of five issues. 1-4 are available now.

I still haven’t played Dragon Age: Origins 2.

Multi-Console:
F1: 2011 (360, PS3)

XBox 360:
Gears of War 3

Sony:
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 Innocent Sin (PSP)

Nintendo:
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (DS)
Kirby Mass Attack (DS)
Barbie Jet, Set, and Style (Wii, DS)
Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns (DS)

Gears of War 3 is probably the only one really worth highlighting this week. But Harvest Moon has been around a long time and a lot of people still love the franchise. Not having a 360 or a DS, I actually get a rest week. But X-Men: Destiny comes next week and I’m really excited for that one.