E3 Expo June 7-9th

For a cool $300 you too can be part of this awesome expo, for everyone else, you'll just have to get your news like the rest of us.  Wondering what games will be there?  Fear no more!  At last, a list!  And boy is it big.

About E3

E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is an annual convention where the hottest video games of the year of shown. E3 2011 is being held June 7-9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Press conferences for Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii and 3DS are held June 6-8. IGN Live will be broadcasting from the show with the E3 2011 press conferences, and interviews and demos with game developers.

The biggest video games of 2011 are on display at E3, including Gears of War 3,Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Battlefield 3, Rage, Madden NFL 12, and Batman: Arkham City.

Big Games List compiles all the titles confirmed by publishers or developers. There are plenty more games we know or expect -- this list isn't for those. These are the things that have been promised publicly or told to us on the record. Check the list. Come back to it often.

LAST UPDATE: May 22, 2011 06:50 PDT

2K Games

BioShock: Infinite (PC, PS3, X360)
Duke Nukem Forever (PC, PS3, X360)
The Darkness II (PC, PS3, X360)
XCOM (PC, X360)

2K Sports

NBA 2K12 (PS3, X360)

Activision

Prototype 2 (PC, PS3, X360)
Skylanders Spyro's Adventure (PS3, Wii, X360)
Spider-Man: Edge of Time (PS3, Wii, X360)
X-Men: Destiny (DS, PS3, Wii, X360)

Bethesda Softworks

Prey 2 (PC, PS3, X360)
Rage (PC, PS3, X360)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, PS3, X360)

City Interactive

Combat Wings: The Great Battles of WWII (PS3, Wii, X360)
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (PC, PS3, X360)

Codemasters

Bodycount (PS3, X360)
F1 2011 (3DS, PC, PS3, PSP2, X360)

D3 Publisher

The Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (PS3, X360)
White Knight Chronicles II (PS3)

Deep Silver

Dead Island (PC, PS3, X360)
Risen 2: Dark Waters (PC, PS3, X360)

Devolver Digital

Serious Sam 3: BFE (PC, PS3, X360)

Disney Interactive Studios

Cars 2 (DS, PC, PS3, Wii, X360)
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (3DS, DS, PC,PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension (DS, Wii)

Electronic Arts

Battlefield 3 (PC, PS3, X360)
FIFA Soccer 12 (PC, PS3, X360)
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PC, PS3, X360)
Madden NFL 12 (PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Mass Effect 3 (PC, PS3, X360)
NCAA Football 12 (PS3, X360)
NHL 12 (PS3)
Need for Speed: The Run (3DS, PC, PS3, X360)
SSX (PS3, X360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
The Sims 3: Generations (PC)

En Masse Entertainment

Tera (PC)

Focus Home Interactive

A Game of Thrones: Genesis (PC)
Of Orcs and Men (PC, PS3, X360)
Rotastic (PC, PS3, X360)
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Testament of Sherlock (PC, PS3, X360)

Gameforge Interactive

Star Trek: Infinite Space (Webgame)

Gazillion

Fortune Online (Webgame)
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (PC)

Ignition Entertainment

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PS3, X360)

Microsoft

Forza Motorsport 4 (X360)
Gears of War 3 (X360)
Gears of War 3 (Epic Edition) (X360) 
Gears of War 3 (Limited Edition) (X360) 

MonkeyPaw Games

BurgerTime World Tour (PC, PS3, Wii, X360) 

Most Wanted Entertainment (MWE)

Defenders of Ardania (PC, PS3, X360, iPad)

Namco Bandai

Soulcalibur V (PS3, X360)

Nexon

Dragon Nest (PC)
Vindictus (PC)

Nintendo

Super Mario 3DS (3DS)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

Nival Interactive

Prime World (Webgame, iPhone)

No Publisher Announced

Rusty Hearts (PC)

Paradox Interactive

Crusader Kings II (PC)
King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame (PC)
Magicka (PC, X360)
Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter (PC)

Perfect World Entertainment

Raiderz (PC)

Sony Computer Entertainment

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (PS3)
Resistance 3 (PS3)
Twisted Metal (PS3)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)

Sony Online Entertainment

DC Universe Online (PC, PS3)
Free Realms (PC, PS3)
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures (PC)

SouthPeak Games

Battle VS Chess (DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)

Square Enix

Hitman: Absolution (PC, PS3, X360)

THQ

Metro 2033: Last Light (PC, X360)
Red Faction: Armageddon (PC, PS3, X360)
Saints Row: The Third (PC, PS3, X360)
UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System (PS3, Wii,X360)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (PC, PS3, X360)
uDraw Studio (PS3, X360)

Tecmo

Ninja Gaiden III (PS3, X360)

Telltale Games

Back to the Future: The Game -- Episode 5: Outatime (PC, PS3,iPad)
Jurassic Park: The Game (PC, PS3, X360)
Puzzle Agent 2 (PC, PS3, iPad, iPhone)

TopWare Interactive

Scivelation (PC, PS3, X360)
Two Worlds II: Pirates of the Flying Fortress (PC, PS3, X360)

Trion Worlds

End of Nations (PC)
Rift (PC)

Ubisoft

Assassin's Creed Revelations (PC, PS3, X360)
Call of Juarez: The Cartel (PC, PS3, X360)
Driver: San Francisco (PC, PS3, X360)
From Dust (PC, PS3, X360)
Rayman Origins (PC, PS3, Wii, X360)
Rocksmith (PC, PS3, X360)
The Adventures of TinTin (DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (DS, PC, PS3, X360)
TrackMania2 (PC)

Warner Bros. Interactive

Bastion (PC, X360)
Batman: Arkham City (PC, PS3, X360)
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters (3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, X360)
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (X360)
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (PC, PS3, X360) 

History of Mortal Kombat

Yes I know where I got the video, but it's still a good watch if you were like me back in the 1990s.  I use to do the same thing, watch people's hands, sell codes and just always trying to do the next "cool" thing in the arcade.  Yes, I even wore sun glasses indoor.  I wear my sun glasses at night...

Black Ops Commentary: Don't Call it Camping

Well, here's someone from IGN thinking they are good at BLOPS.

What do you think?  Me personally?  I don't give a flying hoot!

Enjoy.  What do you all think?  I think he's camping.  Might as well just put a damn tent there and roast some marshmellows.

Lol - Here's a fun thing to do in Battlefield Bad Company 2

When you get bored and you're kicking the shit out of the other team, or if you're in a private match, here's something to do.

When someone is on an ATV or inside of a vehicle, they will not take team damage, so this is the funnest thing to do.

Watch and learn how to send an ATV across the map. :)

Sorry for the late post.

A lot of things are going on right now in my life.  From work to my girlfriend.  Things should continue as normal.  :/

BioWare hiring for Dragon Age III

There was always speculation that BioWare's Dragon Age series would be a trilogy, as both the 2009 original and its March sequel were critical and commercial hits. So it comes as no surprise that the studio that birthed the series revealed it is staffing up for a third entry.

The news stems from a tweet from BioWare's creative development director, Alistair McNally, who used the social forum to announce that the studio is seeking out talent to help create the world of Dragon Age III.

"I'm looking for exceptional environment artists to join me at #BioWare Edmonton, Canada to work on #DragonAge3 #gamejobs #jobs #3D #artists," read the tweet from McNally.

Dragon Age: Origins has shipped more than 3.2 million units globally since debuting in 2009, and its sequel--Dragon Age II--has shipped more than 2 million units since premiering in March.

Guild Wars 2 Preview - The Engineer Revealed

If anyone knows, I love Guild Wars and the lore behind it.  Back when Guild Wars was in its prime, I had three accounts and easily put over 3,000 hours (yes, that's a full time job) in a single year.  I was in a very dedicated and hardcore guild.  I even sold an account for $300!

Fast forward about 10 years and here we are.  ANET yet again holds the water just out of our reach so we continue to keep walking forward.  With the second to last class being previewed, we wonder what the last class will be.  I believe it will be the mesmer.  The mesmer is pretty much a "mind control" class.  I loved playing that class.

But this isn't about me or Guild Wars 1, it's about the upcoming class called the "Engineer".  If you want to see a few of the skills, shoot over to the official Guild Wars 2 profession page.

Here's a video of some of the engineer skills in action.  Sorry for the Gamespot video, it seems they got their hands on an exclusive video.  Enjoy

The engineer will have seven kits: the flamethrower kit; the elixir gun kit (which, again, can cause random effects in battle); the medpack kit (which offers healing to engineers themselves and to their teammates); the mine kit (which lets engineers drop stationary mines that can be tripped to enable their various effects); the bomb kit (which lets engineers set explosive bombs); the grenade kit (which lets engineers toss grenade items of various types); and the tool kit, a utility-focused kit with various useful support skills. In addition, engineers can deploy five different kinds of stationary turrets: healing turrets; flame turrets (which deal fire-based damage); net turrets (which fire incapacitating nets); rifle turrets (which deliver single-shot damage); and thumper turrets, which deal damage to all nearby enemies. Turrets are utilized based on a toggle system similar to the way Guild Wars 2's necromancers handle their summoned undead minions, in that only one turret of one type may be equipped for use at any time.

Arena Net's designers suggest that the engineer profession resembles the ritualist profession, which was introduced in the Factions add-on for the original Guild Wars. Like the ritualist, whose ability to summon spirit creatures acted as a powerful pre-battle strategy, the engineer has a clear-cut strength in planning ahead of battles. Specifically, the engineer can swap in the proper kit skills and establish a defensive perimeter with turrets. The engineer reflects Guild Wars 2's stronger emphasis on zoning and controlling space in battle; having a good sense of positional abilities, ranges, and spacing will play a larger role in Guild Wars 2 overall. It will likely make the difference between a mediocre engineer player and an expert engineer who can efficiently lock down an area, especially with proper intel on what sort of enemies will be incoming.

In the meantime, the engineer profession will have various skills and traits that make him useful to a party in other ways, such as the healing turret, which heals nearby allies; the random positive effects of elixirs; a glue-shot pistol skill that immobilizes enemies (along with a net-shot rifle skill); and even utility skills. These utility skills include "slick shoes," which leaves an oil slick behind engineers as they flee; any enemies that step on the oil slick lose their footing and fall head over heels. They can also set themselves up to deal damage by dual-wielding a pistol in either hand or set themselves up as a defensive character by wielding a pistol in one hand and a heavy shield in the other. Engineers with shields can get between their teammates and hostile enemy magics; in some cases, they can absorb and even reflect harmful effects back at their aggressors.

We're told that the engineer profession has already been implemented into the game's internal test version, which is part of Arena Net's philosophy of not revealing any feature or character in its games until that character or feature has been implemented, tested, and proven to work. The staffers of the Seattle-based studio suggest that the team started its character design process with the game's more straightforward professions, such as the elementalist and warrior. It then continued on to more complicated professions that merited more extensive testing, like the thief, the guardian, and now, the engineer. The studio is keeping one last new Guild Wars 2 profession under wraps for the time being, and in the words of one of the designers, "Not surprisingly, it's also kind of complex and definitely plays differently than other professions."

An update on the updates - Brink

Just wanted to give everyone an update on where we’re currently at with our upcoming game updates for Brink.

Xbox 360

We’ve been hard at work investigating the lag issues some players of the Xbox 360 version of Brink have reported. We’ve now completed modifications to improve network performance and will be rolling these out in a title update for the game.

This update has been submitted to Microsoft, and we expect it to be available next week.

This title update is also going to fix an isolated freezing issue reported by some German players who should no longer experience that problem once the update has been installed.

Details on PC and PS3 after the break…

PC

A game update for the PC version of Brink is in final testing and we’re planning to release it early next week. This update contains a host of fixes and improvements including the following:

We’ve identified the cause of sound dropping out on certain maps when playing networked games for a prolonged amount of time. This will no longer occur.

Graphical performance has been improved, especially when using Ambient Occlusion. We’ve worked closely with both AMD and NVIDIA, and you should see performance and stability improvements in future driver revisions from both parties.

The server browser is tweaked in this update, as well; among other things, a new filter allows you to display only servers with a certain number of players on them, and full servers will no longer be filtered out completely.

There are some smaller fixes for minor issues including your character’s voice occasionally resetting when deleting another character, and a memory leak when alt-tabbing out of the game.

Finally, the dedicated server is set to get an update at the same time as the main game, which will result in improved CPU performance. We’ve protected certain cvars that previously allowed server admins to accidentally break objectives involving NPCs.

The full changelog will be released alongside the update, so keep an eye out for that.

PlayStation 3

With PSN back online, we’re able to resume multiplayer testing on the PlayStation 3. We’re preparing to bring the changes in the upcoming Xbox 360 title update to the PlayStation 3 version of Brink quickly and we expect to have it out next week. Stay tuned!

In the Meantime…

Until these updates roll out, here’s what you can do to improve your multiplayer experience if you encounter problems:

• Check your opponent’s network connection / ping:
  • One player with very low bandwidth connections can have a negative impact on the overall network performance of the game for the team.
  • You are able to view other player’s connection quality easily by viewing the scoreboard and determining if this is the likely cause of lag.
  • To view other player’s connection quality, press Start during a match and select the Scoreboard option to display all other players
  • Other human player bandwidth values are shown on the right hand side of their name as a traffic light value. Anyone that is showing orange or red means they have a bad connection and could potentially be causing the match to become disrupted…

Note: You can also view the opposing team scoreboard since the problem may be with a player on the opposite team. To do this press R1 for PS3 or RB for XBOX 360 while on the scoreboard

• Should you see more players showing RED than GREEN on their status, you should exit this game, return to the main menu and join another game on a new connection.
• The matchmaking system will place you in a more suitable game

Finally, if you have the German Xbox 360 version of Brink and are experiencing freezing issues, you can use the following workaround until the title update is released:

• Turn the Dialogue Volume down completely. You can do this from the main menu or by pressing Start during a match and selecting:
  • Optionen > Audio > Lautstärke der Dialoge
  • Move the dialogue volume slider all the way to the left

That’s it for this blog update. More will be coming your way, and in the meantime, we’ll see you online!

Xbox 360 update producing disc-read errors

Maybe I didn't see this, or maybe it was a download that was in the background?  Looks like this update (whatever the hell it does) is breaking the XBOX.  Read on.

Microsoft recently issued a minor firmware update for the Xbox 360 that is causing problems for a limited number of the consoles. According to a statement provided to GameSpot, Microsoft has "become aware of an issue that is preventing a very small number of Xbox 360 owners from playing retail game discs."

An Xbox 360 firmware update is causing problems with both old and new units of the machine.

The problem causes users to receive a "disc unreadable" or "disc unsupported" error after inserting a disc into the console. According to Microsoft, it is caused by "a change in the disc reading algorithms in a recent software update and is not specific to older or newer versions of Xbox 360." Those suffering from the error should contact Microsoft through www.xbox.com/support/contact so the company can verify if the console has been impacted via Xbox Live. If the problem is confirmed, owners of ailing 360s will receive complimentary new units.

One thing that Microsoft is adamant is not causing the disc-read errors is the ongoing beta that is laying the groundwork for an upcoming new disc format. That update doesn't go live until later in the week, possibly as early as tomorrow.

"The console replacement plan that is the subject of some of today’s headlines is related to a previous update, NOT the system update that has been in public beta and will be deployed shortly," said Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb in a statement. (Emphasis in the original.) "The new disc format that is part of the beta has been rigorously tested across all Xbox 360 models and there are no known compatibility issues."