|  |  |  | | | | | GameSpot's PC News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cable network's take on THQ's sci-fi shooter series to debut the same week as Red Faction: Armageddon. 
On May 31, gamers will get their hands on the next installment in the Red Faction series, Armageddon, on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. On June 4, they will be able to get a dose of backstory on the game, courtesy of the SyFy network TV movie based on the popular game franchise. Titled Red Faction: Origins, the SyFy TV movie will star Robert Patrick (Terminator 2) as Red Faction: Guerilla hero Alec Mason, a former commando leader who helped lead the Red Faction to victory more than a decade prior. However, his triumph didn't come without a cost, as the conflict saw his wife killed and his daughter (Tamzin Merchant) kidnapped. The film opens with Mason's sole living son, Jake (Brian J. Smith), now an officer in the Red Faction militia, finding out that his sister (Merchant) is not only alive but a member of an anti-Red Faction force sparking a new civil war on Mars. The movie's story concerns the family's reunion against a bloody backdrop of far-future internecine conflict. As for the story of Red Faction: Armageddon, the game is set even further in the future, when the surface of Mars becomes unfit for human habitation. Alec Mason's grandson Darius is the protagonist of the third-person shooter and must do battle with foes ranging from crazed cultists to glowing aliens. The game will have less of an open-world approach, but it will have a greater range of weaponry than its predecessor. There will also be a bigger emphasis on destruction, with virtually everything in the game's environments capable of being demolished. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In Serious Sam 3: BFE, "Serious" Sam Stone is gearing up for his third tour of duty against the evil Notorious Mental. Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric gives us the first details.   
2001's arcade-style shooter Serious Sam: The First Encounter seemed like a breath of fresh air for first-person shooter players, who, at the time, had otherwise pretty much been stuck having their virtual gun battles in brown sewers, gray warehouses, gray sewers, or brown warehouses, all full of more crates than you could shake a stick at. It was, in fact, this novelty that led independent game site Old Man Murray to first discover the game and make it known to the public--and the rest is history. The unusual shooter, developed by Croatian studio Croteam, placed its action-hero protagonist, "Serious" Sam Stone, in enormous outdoor environments and pitted him against a gigantic army of completely insane alien monsters led by Notorious Mental, an alien overlord bent on taking over the universe. Now, Serious Sam is getting ready for his newest adventure in Serious Sam 3: BFE. Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric explains. GameSpot: Give us an overview of Serious Sam 3. What's planned for the new game? Bigger fights against crazy enemies in even bigger outdoor environments? How will the game improve on the previous games in the series? And, what new areas will it explore? Roman Ribaric: Serious Sam 3: BFE serves as a prequel to Serious Sam: The First Encounter and tells the story leading up to the events of the original game. You'll definitely see some familiar areas, in addition to some completely new locales. It was important to us that we build upon the existing Serious Sam legend and expand on some of Sam's earlier adventures to explain how in the hell he got into the situations you've already played through. GS: We understand that Serious Sam Stone is going to have a new set of melee attacks. How will this work against enemies that come charging right up to him, like sirian werebulls and the exploding beheaded kamikaze bombs-for-hands guys? How will it be viable for Sam to use melee attacks to defend himself against enemies that charge at him or try to explode near him? Are you ready to talk about how this feature works? RR: This feature is easy to show but hard to describe. For example, in the case of the beheaded kamikaze, you first stand still, then wait for him to get close to you, then you bend over, have him explode in your face, lose half of your health, and happily stand still for the next one. GS: So maybe it is a bit too early to talk about how melee works, then. In that case, the series has become known for having huge outdoor environments with big, big battles. Just how big will the new game's environments get? How big will the battles get? How many enemies can fit onscreen at once? RR: There is going to be a massive number of enemies onscreen at once, along with huge outdoor levels. Our new Serious Engine 3 engine technology actually helps our designers create more massive fights and open spaces. GS: Are there any crazy new enemies in the new game that you'd like to share with us? RR: We wanted to pile on the awesomeness and introduce some new enemies that fans would find a little intimidating. Serious Sam is known for enemies like the beheaded kamikaze and kleer skeletons that attack in big groups and make your palms sweat a little bit. New guys, like the Scrapjack you see in the screenshots, will be making appearances and will be waiting to absolutely wreck your world. GS: Aside from the awesome power of crates, what other lessons from developing the previous games is the team using to create Serious Sam 3? And, are there any specific requests from the fan community that you're looking to include? RR: We are open to hear fan suggestions on how to [pay tribute to] Old Man Murray [and its ideas]. Feel free to e-mail us or post your suggestions in our forums. GS: We understand that the new game will support cooperative play for up to 16 players. Is this only for the PC or for console as well? How will this work? How many players can play locally? And, will that be via split-screen? RR: In terms of first-person shooters, the PC is still king, so 16 players is PC only. However, on the consoles, we will have more co-op players playing the single-player campaign than the two current best-selling console military shooters. Combined. Oh, yeah, Sam is the co-op king of all first-person shooters. No cover; just a whole bunch of guys. Co-op in Serious Sam games is total mayhem! We've traditionally scaled up the enemies and the difficulty as more players join forces in co-op. When you get to 16 players tearing it up, we throw everything we've got at you, and it really becomes overwhelming. At that point, if you want to take out someone on your team, you might want to think twice, since having that extra gun blazing might be the only thing keeping your group alive! GS: Aside from cooperative play, do you plan to include any other new multiplayer modes, such as competitive modes? Could you give us some examples? RR: Along with the most famous cooperative play, the classic competitive modes that were introduced in Serious Sam HD will also be there, like Capture the Flag, Last Team Standing, and My Burden. GS: Will Sam be using the same kinds of guns, like the dual revolvers, chainsaw, minigun, rocket launcher, and cannon he used previously? Any changes to his arsenal? Any new weapons or items he can use in Serious Sam 3? RR: Yes, yes, and yes! GS: Well, fair enough. Thanks, Roman. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Lionhead sounds off on upcoming Windows version of action role-playing game; title due out May 17. 
Microsoft confirmed that Fable III would be released on the PC platform last year, but just months before the game's October 26 release date, the company announced the PC edition was "on a different schedule" than its Xbox 360 brother. Then, in February, Microsoft offered gamers a sweet morsel of news, slapping a May 17 release date on the PC version of the game. Now, developer Lionhead Studios is sounding off on the title, saying it never had the intention of rushing the game out. Speaking with Rock Paper Shotgun, Lionhead lead designer Josh Atkins said PC gamers can expect a game that is "respectful" of the platform. "Our hope is that people who pick up on PC think 'OK, this plays how I would expect it to play; it doesn't play like just a half-done port,' which I think is the danger for PC games," he said. "With Fable III on PC, we wanted it to feel like it was respectful of the platform; that it had been built for it." While PC gamers have had to wait months to play the game, the time has afforded Lionhead the ability to do something it has never done with a Fable game: add difficulty levels and stereoscopic 3D support. Fable III for the PC will ship with an exclusive Hardcore mode, which raises the game’s difficulty. Microsoft has not said whether or it plans to release the $5 Understone Quest Pack or the $7 Traitor's Keep Quest Pack downloadable content for the PC edition of Fable III. For more on the title, check out GameSpot's review of the Xbox 360 version of Fable III. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | [UPDATE] Xbox 360 sells 433,000 units as Pokemon Black & White combine for 2.4 million; 3DS first-weeks sales hit 400,000; Homefront and Dragon Age II also medal in weaker-than-expected retail software market. 
Today, the NPD Group reported its sales results for the March 2011 reporting period, which saw a mild decline versus February's slight uptick. Overall during the month, retail sales of software, non-PC hardware, and non-PC accessories declined 4 percent to $1.53 billion. However, for the first quarter of the year, sales were nearly flat, declining just 1 percent according to NPD analyst Anita Frazier. As one might expect during the month that saw the March 27 launch of the 3DS, hardware sales were up, rising 12 percent to $494.5 million. However, Frazier said that surprisingly, the top hardware platform during the month was the original DS family of systems, not its three-dimensional successor. "The 3DS launch compares quite favorably to that of the best-selling dedicated handheld gaming platform of all time, the Nintendo DS," Frazier said in a statement. "While the 3DS sold about 100,000 units less than the DS did in its launch month, we must consider that the DS launched in November and had holiday seasonality and a price differential of about $100. Because of the price differential, the 3DS generated greater revenues than did the DS in its launch month in November 2004. In addition, the 3DS was launched in an environment where there are more devices that can support the portable gaming experience such as tablets and smartphones." Though NPD no longer releases specific monthly hardware sales figures, Microsoft was more than happy to announce the Xbox 360 was once again the top-selling home console of the month, selling 433,000 units. Sony released a statement saying that the PlayStation family of systems saw "double digit growth across hardware and peripherals," but did not release hard sales figures. As of press time, Nintendo had not commented on its systems' sales performance. However, one reason the DS did so well last month was the fact that Pokemon White and Black launched on March 6. "Pokemon White is the best-selling Pokemon SKU in its debut month at retail of any Pokemon to date, and the Black version is third," said Frazier. "Combined they break previous sales records held by Pokemon Silver and Gold in October 2000." [UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Nintendo delivered its own response to NPD's retail sales report. According to the publisher, the 3DS sold just shy of 400,000 units during the one-week period party to NPD's March reporting window. As indicated by NPD, that figure was less than the 460,000 units that the DS sold during March. Nintendo also provided word on its chart-topping DS duo, Pokemon Black and Pokemon White. The White version proved to be far more popular than the Black game, selling 1.3 million units to 1.1 million units. Though largely the same, the two different versions of the game feature exclusive Pokemon that can be traded through the DS's wireless functionality. Lastly, Nintendo also detailed the Wii's sales performance, saying the flagging console shifted just 290,000 units during the month. The Wii may receive a sales boost next month, when Nintendo is rumored to be cutting the price of the console by $50. Overall, retail software suffered a worse-than-expected 15 percent decline in March, falling to $790.9 million. Pokemon White finished first, followed by Pokemon Black and THQ's near-future military shooter Homefront. BioWare's latest role-playing game, Dragon Age II, finished in fourth followed by perennial bestseller Call of Duty: Black Ops in fifth place. The number-six slot belonged to LucasArts' blocky entry Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars, followed by Electronic Arts and Crytek's visually slick shooter Crysis 2. Take-Two's NBA 2K11 continued to benefit from a lack of competition, landing in eighth place five months after its October 2010 release. Rounding out the top 10 were Sony's MLB: The Show and EA Sports' Fight Night Champion. MARCH 2011 US GAME SALES
OVERALL RETAIL DOLLAR SALES
Total sales: $1.53 billion (-4%)
Non-PC hardware: $494.5 million (+12%)
Total software: 790.9 million (-15%)
Non-PC software: $735.4 million (-16%)
Accessories: $241.3 million (+13%) TOP 10 GAMES
Title (Platforms) - Publisher
1. Pokemon White Version (DS) - Nintendo
2. Pokemon Black Version (DS) - Nintendo
3. Homefront (360, PS3, PC) - THQ
4. Dragon Age II (360, PS3, PC) - Electronic Arts
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, DS, Wii, PC) - Activision
6. Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Wii, 360, DS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) - LucasArts
7. Crysis 2 (360, PS3, PC) - Electronic Arts
8. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, PC) - Take-Two Interactive
9. MLB 11: The Show (PS3, PSP, PS2) - Sony
10. Fight Night Champion (360, PS3) - Electronic Arts Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | California company hiring software engineer for all-new game that isn't its next-generation MMOG, Titan. 
Blizzard Entertainment's next-generation massively multiplayer online game--confirmed as being code-named "Titan" and already playable--is not the only mystery title that the developer-publisher has in its pipeline. According to Blizzard's career portal page, the California developer is hiring software engineers for an "Unannounced Game Title." The game in question is listed separately from Blizzard's "Next-Gen MMO," indicating it is a different project from Titan. As for the position itself, the listing states that the company is "on the hunt for a creatively minded and talented individual to serve as tools engineer for its newest game team." (Emphasis added.) No other details about the project were listed. If the project is indeed different from Titan, it will be the fifth confirmed game Blizzard has in the works. Currently the Irvine, California-based company is working on Titan, Diablo III, and the two Starcraft II expansions Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. According to an allegedly leaked schedule, Blizzard is also planning for two Diablo III expansions, two more World of Warcraft expansions, and a Starcraft II project code-named "Phoenix." Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | This trailer shows the total chaos that is being unleashed on Raccoon City as the USS battles against the opposing US Spec Ops squad, zombies and B.O.Ws, adding an unpredictable twist to the gameplay that could only exist in the Resident Evil universe. 
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
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