Crackdown 2 Busting Heads In July [Release Date]

Ruffian Games and Microsoft do what they can to take care of the traditional summer gaming drought with Crackdown 2, heading to the Xbox 360 the first week of July. More

2K Sports Finishes Multiplayer Fix Patch [Patch]

The patch that presumably will solve MLB 2K10’s connectivity problems in online multiplayer has been finished and submitted for certification on the Xbox 360, meaning the fix should be arriving shortly. More

Overcoming a New Fear of Old Failures … and Vice Versa [Stick Jockey]

This is heresy to the cults of both sports and video gaming, but I’d really rather gnaw off my fingers at the first knuckle than play a human in either. More

Aliens vs. Predator Gets Its First Map Pack March 18 [Dlc]

The four multiplayer maps released in Aliens vs. Predator ’s Special Edition will be available to the general public as DLC beginning next Thursday, March 18. The Swarm Map Pack will run you $7. More

Aliens vs. Predator Gets Its First Map Pack March 18 [Dlc]

The four multiplayer maps released in Aliens vs. Predator ’s Special Edition will be available to the general public as DLC beginning next Thursday, March 18. The Swarm Map Pack will run you $7. More

Blur – MP Beta Impressions

What do you get when you combine Need For Speed’s Racing, Mario Kart’s power-ups, and stylized neon graphics? Bizarre Creations’ upcoming title, Blur, has recently become the first video game I think of. Blur features arcade style racing, social network integration, and the ultimate driving adventure. I had the opportunity to play the multiplayer beta of Activision’s latest project to experience the intensity head-on. Full impressions are after the break:

View post:
Blur – MP Beta Impressions

Blur Devs Promise "Massive" DLC Strategy, Just Not at Launch [Dlc]

Blur ’s developers do have plans for DLC but they don’t intend to put any out at launch. In fact, no dates have been set, and they’ve made clear they’re not going to tackle DLC until the main game’s finished. Bizarre Creations is still putting the final coat of polish on the arcade racer, which entered a closed beta last week and releases May 25. Lead designer Ged Talbot told MTV that he can’t supply any dates for DLC, “but what I can say is it’s always been a massive part of the strategy to support the game with DLC.” The game will launch with 30 tracks and 50 licensed cars, and you can expect power-ups and vehicle mods in there too. While it’ll take some time for players to exhaust everything they get on the standard game, one wonders where and how much else Bizarre will be adding, especially if DLC is a “massive” part of the development strategy. Blur DLC Coming, But Not At Launch [MTV Multiplayer]

Read more:
Blur Devs Promise "Massive" DLC Strategy, Just Not at Launch [Dlc]

Javelins, Zerg Rushes, Ninja Looting and Other Social Dilemmas [Weekend Reader]

It’s there, and you know how to use it. It’s an exploit or a glitch or some imbalance in the AI. Morally, it’s wrong. But what if everyone else is doing it? Or just the potential for them doing it? Jamie Madigan, well known as the gamer with the Ph.D in psychology, tackles an adaptation of the classic “Prisoner’s Dilemma ” by applying it to glitching. Writing on his personal blog (and also in his columns for GameSetWatch and Gamasutra ), Madigan examines what choices and outcomes – foreseen and unforeseen – govern a gaming community’s reaction to the presence of a trump exploit, like Modern Warfare 2 ’s notorious Javelin Glitch, so disproportionately powerful that using it got players banned even though no modding was involved. The conclusion? This is why you game among friends. Hardly a surprise, but one’s conscience can’t be the only guide. Some accountability to the victim of the glitching is also useful. And I’d argue it’s why multiplayer-heavy games bear a higher QA burden, because glitching and exploits that destroy the fun have the potential drive people offline and to a shorter experience with the game, if not to another title altogether. Self-policing does occur, but the longer the exploits persist, the more someone will succumb to temptation. The Glitcher’s Dilemma: Social Dilemmas in Games [The Psychology of Video Games, March 4] Back in the 1960s research on these kinds of dilemmas exploded and out of it came what’s known as “the prisoner’s dilemma” based on an anecdote about getting confessions from two prisoners held under suspicion for a bank robbery. In his book, Rational Choice in an Uncertain World Robyn Dawes summarizes the classic scenario thusly: Two men rob a bank. They are apprehended, but in order to obtain a conviction the district attorney needs confessions. He succeeds by proposing to each robber separately that if he confesses and his accomplice does not, he will go free and his accomplice will be sent to jail for ten years; if both confess, both will be sent to jail for five years, and if neither confesses, both will be sent to jail for one year on charges of carrying a concealed weapon. Further, the district attorney informs each man that he is proposing the same deal to his accomplice. In this case, both prisoners will probably confess if they’re rational about it. Why? Because each prisoner get a better (or no worse) payoff by confessing no matter what the other guy does. Prisoner A thinks, “I don’t know what B is going to do, so if I confess it’s the best way to keep myself from getting screwed. If he keeps quiet, I go free. If he also confesses, I get 5 years instead of 10.” In other words, confessing is the only way to keep the other guy from being able to screw you over. Notice how this mirrors the javelin glitch dilemma, only with fewer explosions. Or you could apply it to “tick throwing” and “fireball trapping” techniques in fighting games. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. My 2×2 table making machine burnt out, anyway. What’s really more interesting and useful, though, is to look at what psychology has to show us about when people DON’T choose the purely rational option of abusing a glitch or a winning but boring strategy. Generally, people are more likely to do this when: • They know they will be playing against their opponents in the future and face retribution • They expect to interact with their opponents outside the game • They don’t expect to remain anonymous • They don’t know how many games will be played with the same person Under these conditions, many players will adopt a strategy where they cooperate at first (for example, they don’t glitch or rush), then if the other player abuses that trust they retaliate in kind. This is known as the “tit for tat” strategy. Some researchers with lots of time on their hands even organized tournaments where people were invited to write computer programs to play iterated prisoner dilemma games, and the programs that adhered to the “tit for tat” strategy tended to do the best. This is why things like playing with people on your friend’s list, Steam community group, guild/clan, or a favorite dedicated server is good. And it’s one reason why random matches between strangers or pickup groups can be infuriating. Making it easy to submit ratings to the profiles of people you just played also helps resolve these dilemmas to everyone’s benefits. It’s also the reason that I love the way that Halo 3 lets you remain in a lobby with the people you just played and go straight into another round with them.3 People being the complicated beings they are it’s not a perfect system, though. Some people are just griefers out to disrupt the game no matter what. Some people won’t abuse a glitch out of a sense of honor. Some will value their ranking on a leaderboard more than a sense of fair play for any individual match. But even if none of the suggestions above is a silver bullet, they help across large numbers of games. – Jamie Madigan Weekend Reader is Kotaku’s look at the critical thinking in, and of video games. It appears Sundays at noon. Please take the time to read the full article cited before getting involved in the debate here.

Read the original here:
Javelins, Zerg Rushes, Ninja Looting and Other Social Dilemmas [Weekend Reader]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review: Judging A Book By Its Cover Works [Review]

The quartet of military misfits introduced in the original Battlefield: Bad Company are back and taking a backseat to a revamped (and far more exciting) multiplayer mode in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. On the single-player side of things, Marlowe, Sweetwater, Haggard and Sarge find themselves embroiled in a military endeavor that feel way above their level of understanding—appropriately, as the soldiers in B Company are tasked with hunting down a mysterious super-weapon that dates back to World War II. Bad Company 2 does some time jumping, with the game kicking off in Japan during the war, then leaping forward to the modern day, bouncing around from frosty locations like Alaska to the balmier Bolivia and beyond. Along the way, bald bad guys must be stopped, lest freedom and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are destroyed by a doomsday device in the hands of a madman. Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s multiplayer has clearly been given more priority—just look at the game’s box art, which favors a prominent Battlefield over Bad Company, the direct opposite of the first entry. Or simply play the game, which may be the best multiplayer offering fans of modern military shooters will get this year, one that outshines its single-player half. Loved The Lighter Side of War: War has changed into something a bit more lighthearted. Sure, there are some serious dramatic moments that veer close to melodrama, but Bad Company 2 retains much of the laid back charm that complemented the action of the first so well. It’s not particularly funny, mind you, despite the game’s efforts to further establish the misfit, goofball nature of the stars of Bad Company, but the often comedic dialogue, occasionally grating, is a more amusing change of pace from the more serious military shooter. Players may feel some disconnect here, between the action of shooting scores of Russians and Bolivians in the face while the Bad Company squad ribs on each other—and mocks the Modern Warfare competition more than once—but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Hi-Fi Gun Fun: If you like guns and like shootin’ guns, you’re going to love Bad Company 2’s arsenal. On the multiplayer side, that requires some unlocking of advance level weapons. In the campaign, players can expand their weapon selection by picking up collectible guns. That not only scratches the item collection itch, it prods players to experiment with the weapons left behind by your enemies. Bad Company 2’s weapons are modeled beautifully, but it’s the clear, crisp sound and tight feel of each shotgun, assault rifle and handgun that deserves kudos. So… kudos, DICE. Feeling A Little Lost: I like a little mystery and sci-fi in my drama, so Battlefield Bad Company 2’s plot, the hunt for this enigmatic weapon that wails in a deep booming drone, kept me interested. That the mix of jungle, sci-fi and the mystery super-weapon’s impact and aural design reminded me of something I’d see on Lost probably wasn’t an accident. Big Country: Bad Company 2’s multiplayer maps, like the maps seen in previous Battlefield games, are both massive and surprisingly detailed. In the game’s Rush modes, in which players must defend or attack a pair of “M-COM” stations, you’ll understand the impressive scope of Bad Company 2’s battlefields. There is room for players, whether on foot or in tanks or helicopters, to breath, making multiplayer sessions less of a spawn and die affair at the hands of those who have already memorized the maps. I never considered just how much an open area affects my ability to stay alive longer against better players, but BFBC2 makes me a fan of online multiplayer map sprawl. Deconstruction: The totally destructible environment bullet point from the first Battlefield Bad Company returns, only slightly improved, but still grand in its technical marvelousness. Buildings and fences still splinter, crumble and explode at the impact of frequent—very frequent—explosions to great effect, ensuring that players can’t comfortably and reliably find cover behind just any wall. While you may hate DICE for its liberal sprinkling of rocket propelled grenade firing enemies, it’s still some beautiful destruction to behold. Oh, It Has Multiplayer: Bad Company 2 got a big boost in the multiplayer department, expanding the number of multiplayer game types, but focusing on a few key variations on standard death match and base capture/defense. The now standard experience point system, leading to higher ranks and unlockable weapons, specializations and gadgets, is a little more slow moving in Bad Company 2. The multiplayer side of things just has a grand, extended feel to it, emphasizing teamwork, communication and smart tactics that should appeal to first-person shooter fans with a little more patience. Hated Getting Over The Hump: The game’s campaign takes some time to find its groove, venturing into more interesting territory in its second half. The motivations of your company and your enemy aren’t always clear. Frankly, I’m not quite sure where I was and why I was there at times, focusing solely on shooting whoever was between me and that nasty super-weapon. My occasionally annoying squadmates and one overly zany helicopter pilot didn’t help me enjoy being in Preston Marlowe’s shoes. Bad Aim Company: Sweetwater, Haggard, Sarge, I appreciate that you guys are absorbing a few hundred rounds in the name of getting from point A to point B, but is it asking too much for the rest of B Company to pick up a few kills? I’m getting hammered by RPGs over here. Over and over and over and over again. Thanks. If you need to know what Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is all about, judge this book by its cover. It’s more focused on online multiplayer than before—”Defining online warfare” its box art claims—and more Battlefield than last time. The game’s single-player campaign, an explosive romp against an army of rocket wielding grunts that gets better as time goes on, but feels a little too familiar, is best thought of as a primer for the rest of Bad Company 2. The game’s multiplayer suite is a big hunk of finely polished team and squad-based action. Playing as one of the four classes, each with their own unique appeal, or piloting one of the game’s vehicles on these big Battlefield maps is a blast. That’s where you’ll likely spend much of your time, ranking your way up the multiplayer ladder, capturing flags and sprinting to the next M-COM unit. Gamers who may have felt a little burned by the original’s focus on single-player in favor of big, broad Battlefield action likely won’t be disappointed by what Bad Company 2 brings to the series. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on March 2. Retails for $49.99 USD to $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played single-player campaign to completion and tested all multiplayer modes on Xbox 360. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

See the original post here:
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review: Judging A Book By Its Cover Works [Review]

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction Multiplayer Trailer

Check out all the multiplayer modes in this awesome new trailer.

Visit link:
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction Multiplayer Trailer

Next Page »