NEWS: Halo 4 begins The Reclaimer Trilogy

Developer 343 Industries have reveled at the PAX Halo 4 Panel that the new Halo series will be called The Reclaimer Trilogy and that Halo 4 will be a direct sequel to Halo 3.

With the new trilogy 343 want to show Master Chief as the ultimate bad ass with “the fantasy that Master Chief is an 800-pound hero that is part tank, part jet fighter.” Cortana will also play a large part in the storyline and 343 promise that it will be a “unique relationship that hasn’t been addressed in other games.”

NEWS: Skyrim DLC packs on Xbox 360 first

With only a few months to go till The Elder Scrolls V: Skrim arrives in stores this coming November most gamers are clearing the next three months of their lives in order to immerse themselves in the world.

Bethseda have promised a number of post launch DLC releases of “substantial” variety. The first two DLC’s will be available on Xbox Live at least “30 days before it’s available anywhere else.”

NEWS: Gamestop Removes Deus Ex: Human Revolution PC from shelves

GameStop has allegedly sent out a message to all it’s retail stores telling them to remove any PC copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution from shelves and store them in the back room till such a time that they are to be returned to publisher. Square Enix. The email was sent out after news broke that GameStop had sent out a similar email telling employees to remove coupons for the OnLive cloud gaming service from the boxes of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

This latest email seems to confirm that GameStop are working on their own cloud type gaming service, something being rumoured since their acquisition of Spawn Labs.

While the console version will still be available from GameStop many gamers are calling for a boycott of the store in retaliation to their actions. GameStop are sure to issue an official statement regarding the situation and we will update you once they do.

NEWS: No Xbox 360 Price Drop

Since the PS3 price drop there has been a lot of speculation that Microsoft would follow suite and offer a price cut on the Xbox360. With over a week since the PS3 price drop Microsoft have been rather coy with no official word regarding a price drop even with internet speculation being rife with an upcoming price match.

When asked if he was “feeling any pressure to move [price] down a little”, Chris Lewis, one of Xbox’s top men in Europe told VG247 that there is no pressure. “We think we offer great value now,” in regards the kinect and Xbox Live. He went on to say that Xbox are “happy with our position.”

While he didn’t officially rule out a price drop, don’t go expecting on any time soon.

NEWS: Vita Final Specs/All Games Download Only

There has been a lot of speculation regarding Sony’s upcoming hand-held Vita and now we have the official specifications for the hand-held which will launch here early next year.

SCEE president Jim Ryan confirmed speculation that all titles for the Vita will be available as digital downloads via the PlayStation store.

Hopefully this will not be a repeat of the PSPgo situation which for want of a better word was something of an absolute failure where not every game was compatible with the PSPgo. During his talk at gamescon Ryan also announced that the system will most likely feature twitter, facebook, Skype and a fully functioning browser.

Readon for a break down of the Vita’s specs.

PlayStation(R)Vita
Model number PCH-1000 series
CPU ARM(R) Cortex(TM)-A9 core (4 core)
GPU SGX543MP4+
External Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth)
Dimensions (tentative, excludes largest projection)
5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors,
Screen OLED
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(Touch screen) Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
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Main memory 512MB
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VRAM 128MB
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Rear touch pad Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras Front camera, Rear camera
Frame rate : 120fps@320×240(QVGA), 60fps@640×480(VGA)
Resolution : Up to 640×480(VGA)
Sound Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope,
three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic
Sensors compass
——- ——————————————————
Location Built-in GPS (3G/Wi-Fi model only)
——– ———————————-
Wi-Fi location service support
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Keys / Switches PS button
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Power button
Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)
Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)
Right stick, Left stick
START button, SELECT button
Volume buttons (+/-)
Wireless
communications Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wi-Fi model only)
IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure
mode/Ad-hoc mode)
Bluetooth(R) 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)
————————————————————
Slots/Ports PlayStation(R)Vita card slot
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Memory card slot
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SIM card slot (3G/Wi-Fi model only)
———————————–
Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN,
Audio (Stereo Out /Mono In), Serial data
communication),
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Headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio (Stereo Out/Mono In))
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Accessory port
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Power Built-In Lithium-ion Battery,
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AC adaptor
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Supported Music
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MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC),
AV content WAVE (Linear PCM)
———- ————————————————-
Video Formats
————————————————————
– MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
High/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC)
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Photos
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– JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG

NEWS: Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program Ends Tonight

Following the 3DS price cut it was announced that early adopters of the handheld would receive a number of free titles thanks to Nintendo’s Ambassador Program.

The games will be available to all Nintendo 3DS owners who connect to the the Nintendo eShop before midnight tonight. By doing so gamers will receive 10 free NES Virtual Console on the 1st of September including The Legend of Zelda and Balloon Fight.

A further 10 free Game Boy Advance titles including Metroid Fusion and Yoshi’s Island will be released before the years end.

NEWS: No Melee Weaposn or Guns in Fable: The Journey

In an interview with OXM, Peter Molyneux stated that in the upcoming Fable: The Journey gamers would not be able to use melee weapons or guns as “the human brain is encoded to expect recoil from those things.”

He went on to state that that the reason the gamers would have to rely solely on magic is because “The thing about magic is there’s nothing encoded in your mind about how it should feel.”

While Molyneux may have a point, it is most likely that these restrictions will result in a title which relies upon the gamer flailing around their living room like a mad man, something which the Kinect seems to encourage.

NEWS: Battlefield 3 Won’t Be On Steam

EA has today announced that Battlefield 3 will not be available through Steam. Speaking on it’s official forum EA stated that this was due to the manner in which Valve’s service “restricts our ability to directly support players”.

The game will be available through all of the other big digital download sites and EA hope to come to an arrangement with Steam so that the game will eventually be available through the platform but for now gamers will have to look to one of the other 100 or so sites which will offer the game as a digital download.

“In doing so, our goal is to not only reach the widest possible global audience with our games, but also to provide ongoing customer support, patches and great new content,” the publisher said.

“We are intent on providing Battlefield 3 players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play the game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with consumers.

“Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. No other download service has adopted these practices.

“We hope to work out an agreement where Steam can carry Battlefield 3; meanwhile, gamers can pick from the more than 100 digital retailers.”

NEWS: New Home for Indie Game Developers

For many emerging indie developers the biggest hurdle they face is getting they game into the hands of prospective gamers. Capsized creator Lee Vermeulen has launched, Indievania an online marketplace where independent developers can sell their title directly to gamers.

The initiative is highly desirable for indie developers as they receive over 90% of each sale with Indievania taking just 9% to cover storage and bandwidth compared to the 30% traditionally retained.

At the minute games can only be purchased through paypal but plans are afoot for other payment options to be introduced over the coming months.

NEWS: Vita Coming Early 2012

Sony have announced that it will be releasing the PlayStation Vita in Europe and the US in early 2012 and not was early reported before the end of this year. Japan will be the only counrty to recieve the handheld this year.

SCEI Chairman Kaz Hirai told press in Tokyo that the rumored lower launch price to compete with the reprice 3DS was nothing but a rumor.

“We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable,” Hirai said. “There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”