[anthonydarko]

Hello everyone, Anthony here for another week of the Gamer Round-Up! This week, I look back on one hell of a year for gamers and recap the biggest stories as well as keeping you up to date on happenings in the gaming world.


TOPICS OF THE WEEK
What is your game or top ten list of the year? What game(s) are you looking forward to in the new year?

My top ten list is as followed:
1. Batman: Arkham City
2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
3. Portal 2
4. Battlefield 3
5 L.A Norie
6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
8. Little Big Planet 2
9. Dead Space 2
10. FIFA 12

THIS WEEK IN GAMING

Staring January 1st, "gun-like" Avatar items will be taken off the Xbox Live Market due to a recent addition to the list of things that Microsoft prohibits their beloved Avatars from having or doing. In other news, Microsoft will still promote shooters on XBL in light of this.

Last week, the highly anticipated Bioware MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, hits store shelves just in time for Christmas. So far, over 60 million game hours have been logged in with the title and 1,660,000 Sith Warriors and Jedi Knights have been created.

There was a bit of an upset last week for gamers who reserved copies of The Last Guardian from Gamestop, as many of them received calls from the retailer staring that the game had been cancelled. Thankfully for those gamers who were about to jump off the bridge, this was quickly debunked by Sony. The retailer apologized for the error, stating that the company took the game off their computer system due to the game not having a specific release date and that the game will be up for preorder again once an established release date has been announced.

For those wondering how much you'll have to pay for Playstation Vita memory cards, you're in luck! Sony has announced the prices for the four different levels of storage capacity, with prices ranging from $19.99 for a 4GB card to $99.99 for a 32GB card.

In other Vita related news, Sony has announced the launch details for the US release. The handheld will be released on February 22nd and will include 25 launch titles, which will include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3, FIFA Soccer, and Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational. There will also be a Starter Kit released alongside the Vita for $39.99, which will include a 4GB memory card, a pocket pouch, headphones, a protective screen film and other assorted accessories. The handheld will also come with 6 AR cards and a voucher for AR Play, a bundle of AR games.

Nintendo has finally announced a release for the anticipated Kid Icarus 3DS title.... for Japan. The game will be released March 22nd in Japan and while there has been no Western release date yet, it is assumed that the title will launch on our shores shortly after. In other 3DS news, Enterbrain from Japan has announced that Nintendo has sold close to 4 million of them in Japan this year.

Speaking of other Nintendo news, the company has stated that the upcoming Wii U has a launch window from next June to the end of 2012. While there is no firm date for the release of the system, it is expected that Nintendo will reveal the official release date at the E3 2012 next May. The system will also be on display at CES 2012.

The company also reveled the official The Legend of Zelda timeline, which is part of an art book of the series that has been released in Japan. No word yet on if the book will be released here in the US.

Capcom has announced that they will be opening, of all things, a bar in Toyko next month. The bar will feature Capcom game demo kiosks and will feature food and drinks centered around Capcom titles. The bar will also serve as a location to host talk events from game developers. The bar will open on the 25th.

For Battlefield 3 fans who missed out on getting the preorder Physical Warfare Pack, the DLC is now available to all for the wonderful price of free. The DLC pack features the Type 99 LMG, a flash suppressor for the SKS and instant access to the DAO-12 Shotgun and Flechette Ammo for the gun.

While this article is tongue in cheek, it does tell of President Obama making a stop at a local Best Buy to pick up a copy of Just Dance 3 for his two young daughters for Christmas. Hopefully the president and his family had a nice Christmas Day dancing along to the game's numerous tracks.

And finally, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has announced that MW3 will receive it's first batch of DLC next month. The upcoming DLC will feature 5 new maps and Bowling has also stated that upcoming DLC with also cover Spec Ops and "a variety of things that players have never seen before". The DLC will launch on January 24th with Xbox getting first dibs, while PS3 and PC players will receive the content at a later date due to Microsoft's exclusivity deal with Activision.

With that, let's all take a look back and review what was....

THE YEAR IN GAMING: 2011

Microsoft, who once was the top dog in the console wars in terms of content, took some strange turns this year. After last year's launch of Kinect, Microsoft has made much headway with promoting and advancing with the device. At this year's E3 convention, Kinect was clearly the main focus of their press conference, for better or worse. About 3/4th of the conference revolved around Kinect in some fashion, whether it be showing how Kinect could be used to enhance certain features in upcoming titles such as Mass Effect 3 and Ghost Recon: Future Solider to a slew of Kinect titles and Kinect Fun Labs, which utilizes the device for various features on the Xbox Dashboard. Along with the Kinect heavy announcements, Microsoft also announced that Xbox Live would be getting a slew of media applications, which including from the likes of UFC, HBO Go, BBC iPlayer, Skype, and other apps.

However, it became clear to many that Microsoft has taken a different direction with the 360, turning a once prominent gaming system to a family friendly, media hub instead. The system's once great collection of exclusive properties had now whittled down to only a few, with Kinect and media apps taking a front seat. Even with the announcement of Halo 4 and a new trilogy and the next successor in the Xbox line currently being developed, the future seems uncertain for Microsoft with these recent developments.

Sony, after making much headway in the past couple of years, nearly lost its momentum with one single event. On April 19th, an event no PS3 user will ever forget, the Playstation Network was hacked and 77 million PSN and Qriocity users' personal information, including credit card information, was stolen. Sony shut down PSN for 23 long days, preventing users from withdrawing their personal information and causing many to cancel their credit and debit cards in fear of identity theft. On May 2nd, Sony announced that Sony Online Entertainment had also been hacked, resulting in 12,000 credit card numbers from non-US cardholders and other information from 24.7 million accounts possibly being stolen and the service being shut down as well.

In that time, Sony received quite the backlash, from angry gamers being unable to play online and their information being stolen to the US Government, whom representatives demanded answers from Sony about the data breach. To make up for the attack, Sony America's CEO Jack Tretton personally apologized for the attack at Sony's E3 conference and the company offered compensation to all who was affected with the Welcome Back program, offering two free PS3 and two free PSN titles from a selection of 9 titles, the free use of Qriocity for 180 days, 30 days of Playstation Plus for free and a free dynamic theme for the PS3. In all, Sony miraculously survived the disaster and learned one hell of a lesson regarding security.

Nintendo, after riding the gravy train with the Wii for the past five years, decided it was time to announce it's next move in the console wars and declared they would debut its new console at this year's E3 convention. For weeks leading up to the event, gamers waited in battered breath to hear what was hopefully going to be a headstart into the next generation of consoles and Ninendo's big comeback in the console wars. However, at Nintendo's press conference, it seemed that wasn't the case when Nintendo proudly showed its new console, the Wii U. The announcement left much to be desired, ranging from a sense of disappointment regarding the system's use of current graphic technology versus using next-gen graphics to a great sense of confusion regarding much of its announcement revolving around the console's controller instead of the console itself.

While numerous third party companies and developers raved about the system and promised a slew of games to support the system, the future of Wii U remains to be seen going into the new year and one has to wonder whether the system will be Nintendo's next big hit or the next Virtual Boy.

This year was a big year for handheld systems. After announcing the handheld at last year's E3, Nintendo finally release the next iteration in the DS line, the 3DS, on March 27th. The launch however was marred by issues, ranging from lackluster launch titles to health risks involving the handheld's glasses-free 3D screen. With sales not living up to expectations, Nintendo cut the price of the handheld from $250 to $169 on July 28th and offered free content for users who bought it at the original price with the Ambassador Program.

Sony, not to be outdone, announced at their E3 conference their next step with the PSP platform with the Vita. The handheld showed a great leap in graphical power from the previous PSP handheld, being close to PS3 standards in the palms of your hand. The system launched in Japan this month and the handheld is currently planned for US release this upcoming February.

After being the butt of many a joke in the gaming and with the help of Gearbox Studios and Hell freezing over, the long awaited Duke Nukem Forever finally was release after an insane 14 years of development. The game however was critically panned across the board, which naturally was going to be the outcome of the once greatest example of vaporware. The Redner Group, a third party public relations firm who handled the PR for the game, lashed out against these poor reviews on Twitter and declared they would be reviewing who gets review copies of upcoming 2K Games titles, basing this on who doesn't subscribe to "today's venom". Surprising no one, 2K Games promptly relieved the company of their PR duties shortly afterwards.

This year saw the closest thing to a real war with Activision's highly anticipated shooter, Modern Warfare 3, going up against the company's long time rival EA Games with their next installment in the Battlefield series, Battlefield 3. For months, EA Games slung mud and took cheap shots at Activision while fans on both sides duked it out in a war of words on messageboards and comment sections on news stories for the games. In the end, Activision came up victorious in this war with sales of MW3 exceeding 1 billion dollars. However the true winners were gamers, for they had two awesome games with different playing styles to choose from.

This year also saw the release of many excellent and well received titles including Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Killzone 3, L.A. Noire, Uncharted 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Dead Space 2, Little Big Planet 2, etc.

There was also sad news this year, as companies such as Bizarre Creations, Team Bondi, Black Rock Studio, EA Visceral Melbourne and other studios, closed their doors for issues ranging from low game sales to internal strife.

So that was 2011 in a nutshell, it had its highs and it had its lows. Gamers had more choices then ever to explore new worlds, take on new challenges and enjoy probably one of the best slew of titles released in years. Now with 2012 only days, we can look to the horizon to where gaming will go next in the upcoming year.


Sources: Destructoid and Joystiq. Also a huge thank you to IGN for compiling all the stories from the past year and making the year review that much easier to do.

[Linda Ferreira]

quote me when you are ready

[anthonydarko]

Originally Posted by Linda Ferreira

quote me when you are ready

Hello everyone, Anthony here for another week of the Gamer Round-Up! This week, I look back on one hell of a year for gamers and recap the biggest stories as well as keeping you up to date on happenings in the gaming world.


TOPICS OF THE WEEK
What is your game or top ten list of the year? What game(s) are you looking forward to in the new year?

My top ten list is as followed:
1. Batman: Arkham City
2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
3. Portal 2
4. Battlefield 3
5 L.A Norie
6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
8. Little Big Planet 2
9. Dead Space 2
10. FIFA 12

THIS WEEK IN GAMING

Staring January 1st, "gun-like" Avatar items will be taken off the Xbox Live Market due to a recent addition to the list of things that Microsoft prohibits their beloved Avatars from having or doing. In other news, Microsoft will still promote shooters on XBL in light of this.

Last week, the highly anticipated Bioware MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, hits store shelves just in time for Christmas. So far, over 60 million game hours have been logged in with the title and 1,660,000 Sith Warriors and Jedi Knights have been created.

There was a bit of an upset last week for gamers who reserved copies of The Last Guardian from Gamestop, as many of them received calls from the retailer staring that the game had been cancelled. Thankfully for those gamers who were about to jump off the bridge, this was quickly debunked by Sony. The retailer apologized for the error, stating that the company took the game off their computer system due to the game not having a specific release date and that the game will be up for preorder again once an established release date has been announced.

For those wondering how much you'll have to pay for Playstation Vita memory cards, you're in luck! Sony has announced the prices for the four different levels of storage capacity, with prices ranging from $19.99 for a 4GB card to $99.99 for a 32GB card.

In other Vita related news, Sony has announced the launch details for the US release. The handheld will be released on February 22nd and will have 25 titles at launch, which will include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3, FIFA Soccer, and Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational. There will also be a Starter Kit released alongside the Vita for $39.99, which will include a 4GB memory card, a pocket pouch, headphones, a protective screen film and other assorted accessories. The handheld will also come with 6 AR cards and a voucher for AR Play, a bundle of AR games.

Nintendo has finally announced a release date for the anticipated Kid Icarus 3DS title.... for Japan. The game will be released March 22nd in Japan and while there has been no Western release date yet, it is assumed that the title will launch on our shores shortly after. In other 3DS news, Enterbrain from Japan has announced that Nintendo has sold close to 4 million of them in Japan this year.

Speaking of other Nintendo news, the company has stated that the upcoming Wii U has a launch window from next June to the end of 2012. While there is no firm date for the release of the system, it is expected that Nintendo will reveal the official release date at the E3 2012 next May. The system will also be on display at CES 2012.

The company also reveled the official The Legend of Zelda timeline, which is part of an art book of the series that has been released in Japan. No word yet on if the book will be released here in the US.

Capcom has announced that they will be opening, of all things, a bar in Toyko next month. The bar will feature Capcom game demo kiosks and will feature food and drinks centered around Capcom titles. The bar will also serve as a location to host talk events from game developers. The bar will open on the 25th.

For Battlefield 3 fans who missed out on getting the preorder Physical Warfare Pack, the DLC is now available to all for the wonderful price of free. The DLC pack features the Type 99 LMG, a flash suppressor for the SKS and instant access to the DAO-12 Shotgun and Flechette Ammo for the gun.

While this article is tongue in cheek, it does tell of President Obama making a stop at a local Best Buy to pick up a copy of Just Dance 3 for his two young daughters for Christmas. Hopefully the president and his family had a nice Christmas Day dancing along to the game's numerous tracks.

And finally, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has announced that MW3 will receive it's first batch of DLC next month. The upcoming DLC will feature 5 new maps and Bowling has also stated that upcoming DLC with also cover Spec Ops and "a variety of things that players have never seen before". The DLC will launch on January 24th with Xbox getting first dibs, while PS3 and PC players will receive the content at a later date due to Microsoft's exclusivity deal with Activision.

With that, let's all take a look back and review what was....

THE YEAR IN GAMING: 2011

Microsoft, who once was the top dog in the console wars in terms of content, took some strange turns this year. After last year's launch of Kinect, Microsoft has made much headway with promoting and advancing with the device. At this year's E3 convention, Kinect was clearly the main focus of their press conference, for better or worse. About 3/4th of the conference revolved around Kinect in some fashion, whether it be showing how Kinect could be used to enhance certain features in upcoming titles such as Mass Effect 3 and Ghost Recon: Future Solider to a slew of Kinect titles and Kinect Fun Labs, which utilizes the device for various features on the Xbox Dashboard. Along with the Kinect heavy announcements, Microsoft also announced that Xbox Live would be getting a slew of media applications, which including from the likes of UFC, HBO Go, BBC iPlayer, Skype, and other apps.

However, it became clear to many that Microsoft has taken a different direction with the 360, turning a once prominent gaming system to a family friendly, media hub instead. The system's once great collection of exclusive properties had now whittled down to only a few, with Kinect and media apps taking a front seat. Even with the announcement of Halo 4 and a new trilogy and the next successor in the Xbox line currently being developed, the future seems uncertain for Microsoft with these recent developments.

Sony, after making much headway in the past couple of years, nearly lost its momentum with one single event. On April 19th, an event no PS3 user will ever forget, the Playstation Network was hacked and 77 million PSN and Qriocity users' personal information, including credit card information, was stolen. Sony shut down PSN for 23 long days, preventing users from withdrawing their personal information and causing many to cancel their credit and debit cards in fear of identity theft. On May 2nd, Sony announced that Sony Online Entertainment had also been hacked, resulting in 12,000 credit card numbers from non-US cardholders and other information from 24.7 million accounts possibly being stolen and the service being shut down as well.

In that time, Sony received quite the backlash, from angry gamers being unable to play online and their information being stolen to the US Government, whom representatives demanded answers from Sony about the data breach. To make up for the attack, Sony America's CEO Jack Tretton personally apologized for the attack at Sony's E3 conference and the company offered compensation to all who was affected with the Welcome Back program, offering two free PS3 and two free PSN titles from a selection of 9 titles, the free use of Qriocity for 180 days, 30 days of Playstation Plus for free and a free dynamic theme for the PS3. In all, Sony miraculously survived the disaster and learned one hell of a lesson regarding security.

Nintendo, after riding the gravy train with the Wii for the past five years, decided it was time to announce it's next move in the console wars and declared they would debut its new console at this year's E3 convention. For weeks leading up to the event, gamers waited in battered breath to hear what was hopefully going to be a headstart into the next generation of consoles and Ninendo's big comeback in the console wars. However, at Nintendo's press conference, it seemed that wasn't the case when Nintendo proudly showed its new console, the Wii U. The announcement left much to be desired, ranging from a sense of disappointment regarding the system's use of current graphic technology versus using next-gen graphics to a great sense of confusion regarding much of its announcement revolving around the console's controller instead of the console itself.

While numerous third party companies and developers raved about the system and promised a slew of games to support the system, the future of Wii U remains to be seen going into the new year and one has to wonder whether the system will be Nintendo's next big hit or the next Virtual Boy.

This year was a big year for handheld systems. After announcing the handheld at last year's E3, Nintendo finally release the next iteration in the DS line, the 3DS, on March 27th. The launch however was marred by issues, ranging from lackluster launch titles to health risks involving the handheld's glasses-free 3D screen. With sales not living up to expectations, Nintendo cut the price of the handheld from $250 to $169 on July 28th and offered free content for users who bought it at the original price with the Ambassador Program.

Sony, not to be outdone, announced at their E3 conference their next step with the PSP platform with the Vita. The handheld showed a great leap in graphical power from the previous PSP handheld, being close to PS3 standards in the palms of your hand. The system launched in Japan this month and the handheld is currently planned for US release this upcoming February.

After being the butt of many a joke in the gaming and with the help of Gearbox Studios and Hell freezing over, the long awaited Duke Nukem Forever finally was release after an insane 14 years of development. The game however was critically panned across the board, which naturally was going to be the outcome of the once greatest example of vaporware. The Redner Group, a third party public relations firm who handled the PR for the game, lashed out against these poor reviews on Twitter and declared they would be reviewing who gets review copies of upcoming 2K Games titles, basing this on who doesn't subscribe to "today's venom". Surprising no one, 2K Games promptly relieved the company of their PR duties shortly afterwards.

This year saw the closest thing to a real war with Activision's highly anticipated shooter, Modern Warfare 3, going up against the company's long time rival EA Games with their next installment in the Battlefield series, Battlefield 3. For months, EA Games slung mud and took cheap shots at Activision while fans on both sides duked it out in a war of words on messageboards and comment sections on news stories for the games. In the end, Activision came up victorious in this war with sales of MW3 exceeding 1 billion dollars. However the true winners were gamers, for they had two awesome games with different playing styles to choose from.

This year also saw the release of many excellent and well received titles including Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, Crysis 2, Gears of War 3, Forza 4, Killzone 3, L.A. Noire, Uncharted 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Dead Space 2, Little Big Planet 2, and others.

There was also sad news this year, as companies such as Bizarre Creations, Team Bondi, Black Rock Studio, EA Visceral Melbourne and other studios, closed their doors for issues ranging from low game sales to internal strife.

So that was 2011 in a nutshell, it had its highs and it had its lows. Gamers had more choices then ever to explore new worlds, take on new challenges and enjoy probably one of the best slew of titles released in years. Now with 2012 only days, we can look to the horizon to where gaming will go next in the upcoming year.


Sources: Destructoid and Joystiq. Also a huge thank you to IGN for compiling all the stories from the past year and making the year review that much easier to do.

[Linda Ferreira]

Originally Posted by anthonydarko

Hello everyone, Anthony here for another week of the Gamer Round-Up!


Sources: Destructoid and Joystiq. Also a huge thank you to IGN for compiling all the stories from the past year and making the year review that much easier to do.

Thanks. Posted. Let me know if I need to make any changes.

[anthonydarko]

Originally Posted by Linda Ferreira

Thanks. Posted. Let me know if I need to make any changes.

I made a slight error in the Duke Nukem section of the year round up, the first part should read: After being the butt of many a joke in the gaming world,
Also, the game was in development for 15 years, not 14 as I just learned.

[Linda Ferreira]

Originally Posted by anthonydarko

I made a slight error in the Duke Nukem section of the year round up, the first part should read: After being the butt of many a joke in the gaming world,
Also, the game was in development for 15 years, not 14 as I just learned.

fixed

[anthonydarko]

Hello everyone, Anthony here with the first Gamer Round-Up of 2012! I hope you had a happy and safe New Year's, now let's get down to business.

TOPICS OF THE WEEK
What game series would you like to see make a comeback this year? What game series do you think needs to take a seat on the sidelines this year?

THE WEEK IN GAMING

According to reports, the Wii U's online store is rumored to offer more non-game media apps then the Wii. It has been suggested that apps like MLB.TV will run on the system and on the system's tablet controller, along with e-mail and social networking apps as well.

Sorry Half-Life fans, it looks like you've been "trolled" about the recent rumblings of Half-Life 3's upcoming release. According to Valve, there is no current ARG for the long-awaited title as it has been reported and that there is still no official plans for the sequel.

For gamers looking to get the Twisted Metal reboot this upcoming Valentine's Day, you'll be getting the gift of two games! The limited edition version of the game will ship with a PSN voucher for a copy of Twisted Metal Black, the classic PS2 title in the series.

According to Torrentfreak, Crysis 2 was the most pirated PC game of the year, with a whopping 3.9 million illegal downloads. Behind Crysis 2 on the list was Modern Warfare 3 with 3.6 million downloads and Battlefield 3 with 3.5 million downloads.

Apparently Activision doesn't like people fiddling around with the inter-workings of their Skylander toy/game line, as one programmer found out after receiving a cease & desist letter from the company's lawyers. The man in question was tinkering with the game's portal device for a site he runs for fun and was not planning on sharing these findings on his site. However, the man cooperated with the legal order and agreed to not publish his findings for the sake of peace.

Ever wonder what if the Xbox 360 had a functioning DVR built into the system? Well according to recently surfaced patent filings, Microsoft apparently had the same idea too at one point. Filed in the beginning of 2007, the patent shows plans for a console that had a built-in DVR application that could be able record during gameplay or when the system was turned off. Perhaps we'll see something similar with Microsoft's upcoming new Xbox?

The famous their-bark-is-worse-then-their-bite group Anonymous has announced they plan on "shutting down Sony's online system" due to their support of the SOPA bill. There is no word of when (or if) the "attack" will take place but the mouth breathing group declares that it will happen "soon". In other news, Anonymous users then created more shitty Rage Guy memes on 4chan and cried to their mothers that they are out of Mountain Dew and Cheetos.

After corporation Viacom sold the Guitar Hero/Rock Band developer Harmonix for a paltry sum of 50 dollars back in November 2010, it appears that decision has come back to haunt them. Ex-shareholders in Harmonix have been awarded $338 million in a private arbitration decision, due to Viacom not paying the shareholders their performance-based bonuses that were agreed upon in 2006. Viacom is currently fighting the decision, by appealing in a Delaware court to have the decision overturned.

Speaking of Rock Band, a happy story from across the pond tells of 23 year old Marc Rodwell, whom lost 224 pounds playing Rock Band along with diet and other exercise. Previously weighing over a whopping 500 pounds (or 36-stone) and being told he wouldn't live to see his 24th birthday, Marc played the game's drums daily and burned off those calories until he reached his current weight. He will celebrate his 24th birthday this upcoming February, so good on you Marc and have a happy birthday!

IGN recently announced that the PS3 was the winner of their Console Showdown for 2011. The decision was reached due to the strong release of first party title exclusives throughout the year, as well as the amount of high scores that PS3 titles received in reviews. Congrats Sony!

In a Are-You-Serious?! story, a man in China has paid the American dollar equivalent of 16,000 dollars for a digital sword for the MMO, Age of Wulin. The real kicker in this story is that the MMO in question hasn't even been released yet, with an open beta being launched this spring. People and their money.....

Finally, after beginning the service in September, game retailer juggernaut GameStop has announced their iOS trade-in program has been a "success" While not giving away any specific numbers yet, the company has stated that the information will be released along with their holiday sales report.

This upcoming year in gaming is going to be exciting and with it, this Round-Up is going to have a few improvements added to it for the new year. Currently being planned is bringing back the platform-specific news sections in the Round-Up, along with a more even amount of news for each platform. Along with that, I'm also planning on adding a feature to the Round-Up that compiles multiple reviews of games from various news sources into a neat, organized section for easy access to different opinions and viewpoints on a specific title. I'd like to ask the readers of the Round-Up to what you all think of these ideas as well as any input to other features and improvements you'd like to see in the Round-Up, as I'd like for the Round-Up to be as user-involved as it can be.

Along with that, I'd like to invite readers whom haven't to come and check out the AP Video Game Thread in the Entertainment fourm. Everyone is welcome to post and discuss their thoughts on gaming in there, as well as adding their XBL/PSN gamertags to the ever-growing list in the OP or even find some new people to play online with. So don't be shy, stop on in and say hello!

Alright with all that, that wraps this week's Gamer Round-Up and I'll see you all next week with a new slab of fresh gaming news for you!

News story links from this week's Round-Up are provided by Destructoid, Joystiq and IGN.

[Linda Ferreira]

Happy to see that you are starting on this. Quote me when you are ready to have it posted.

[anthonydarko]

Originally Posted by Linda Ferreira

Happy to see that you are starting on this. Quote me when you are ready to have it posted.

Here you are!

Hello everyone, Anthony here with the first Gamer Round-Up of 2012! I hope you had a happy and safe New Year's, now let's get down to business.

TOPICS OF THE WEEK
What game series would you like to see make a comeback this year? What game series do you think needs to take a seat on the sidelines this year?

THE WEEK IN GAMING

According to reports, the Wii U's online store is rumored to offer more non-game media apps then the Wii. It has been suggested that apps like MLB.TV will run on the system and on the system's tablet controller, along with e-mail and social networking apps as well.

Sorry Half-Life fans, it looks like you've been "trolled" about the recent rumblings of Half-Life 3's upcoming release. According to Valve, there is no current ARG for the long-awaited title as it has been reported and that there is still no official plans for the sequel.

For gamers looking to get the Twisted Metal reboot this upcoming Valentine's Day, you'll be getting the gift of two games! The limited edition version of the game will ship with a PSN voucher for a copy of Twisted Metal Black, the classic PS2 title in the series.

According to Torrentfreak, Crysis 2 was the most pirated PC game of the year, with a whopping 3.9 million illegal downloads. Behind Crysis 2 on the list was Modern Warfare 3 with 3.6 million downloads and Battlefield 3 with 3.5 million downloads.

Apparently Activision doesn't like people fiddling around with the inter-workings of their Skylander toy/game line, as one programmer found out after receiving a cease & desist letter from the company's lawyers. The man in question was tinkering with the game's portal device for a site he runs for fun and was not planning on sharing these findings on his site. However, the man cooperated with the legal order and agreed to not publish his findings for the sake of peace.

Ever wonder what if the Xbox 360 had a functioning DVR built into the system? Well according to recently surfaced patent filings, Microsoft apparently had the same idea too at one point. Filed in the beginning of 2007, the patent shows plans for a console that had a built-in DVR application that could be able record during gameplay or when the system was turned off. Perhaps we'll see something similar with Microsoft's upcoming new Xbox?

The famous their-bark-is-worse-then-their-bite group Anonymous has announced they plan on "shutting down Sony's online system" due to their support of the SOPA bill. There is no word of when (or if) the "attack" will take place but the mouth breathing group declares that it will happen "soon". In other news, Anonymous users then created more shitty Rage Guy memes on 4chan and cried to their mothers that they are out of Mountain Dew and Cheetos.

After corporation Viacom sold the Guitar Hero/Rock Band developer Harmonix for a paltry sum of 50 dollars back in November 2010, it appears that decision has come back to haunt them. Ex-shareholders in Harmonix have been awarded $338 million in a private arbitration decision, due to Viacom not paying the shareholders their performance-based bonuses that were agreed upon in 2006. Viacom is currently fighting the decision, by appealing in a Delaware court to have the decision overturned.

Speaking of Rock Band, a happy story from across the pond tells of 23 year old Marc Rodwell, whom lost 224 pounds playing Rock Band along with diet and other exercise. Previously weighing over a whopping 500 pounds (or 36-stone) and being told he wouldn't live to see his 24th birthday, Marc played the game's drums daily and burned off those calories until he reached his current weight. He will celebrate his 24th birthday this upcoming February, so good on you Marc and have a happy birthday!

IGN recently announced that the PS3 was the winner of their Console Showdown for 2011. The decision was reached due to the strong release of first party title exclusives throughout the year, as well as the amount of high scores that PS3 titles received in reviews. Congrats Sony!

In a Are-You-Serious?! story, a man in China has paid the American dollar equivalent of 16,000 dollars for a digital sword for the MMO, Age of Wulin. The real kicker in this story is that the MMO in question hasn't even been released yet, with an open beta being launched this spring. People and their money.....

Finally, after beginning the service in September, game retailer juggernaut GameStop has announced their iOS trade-in program has been a "success" While not giving away any specific numbers yet, the company has stated that the information will be released along with their holiday sales report.

This upcoming year in gaming is going to be exciting and with it, this Round-Up is going to have a few improvements added to it for the new year. Currently being planned is bringing back the platform-specific news sections in the Round-Up, along with a more even amount of news for each platform. Along with that, I'm also planning on adding a feature to the Round-Up that compiles multiple reviews of games from various news sources into a neat, organized section for easy access to different opinions and viewpoints on a specific title. I'd like to ask the readers of the Round-Up to what you all think of these ideas as well as any input to other features and improvements you'd like to see in the Round-Up, as I'd like for the Round-Up to be as user-involved as it can be.

Along with that, I'd like to invite readers whom haven't to come and check out the AP Video Game Thread in the Entertainment fourm. Everyone is welcome to post and discuss their thoughts on gaming in there, as well as adding their XBL/PSN gamertags to the ever-growing list in the OP or even find some new people to play online with. So don't be shy, stop on in and say hello!

Alright with all that, that wraps this week's Gamer Round-Up and I'll see you all next week with a new slab of fresh gaming news for you!

News story links from this week's Round-Up are provided by Destructoid, Joystiq and IGN.

[Linda Ferreira]

Originally Posted by anthonydarko

Here you are!

Alright with all that, that wraps this week's Gamer Round-Up and I'll see you all next week with a new slab of fresh gaming news for you!

News story links from this week's Round-Up are provided by Destructoid, Joystiq and IGN.

Thanks. Posted.

[anthonydarko]

Adding some new topic dividers for the Round-Up. I'm going to try to evenly distribute the news and add sections based on platform.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK

THE WEEK IN GAMING

NINTENDO NEWS

MICROSOFT NEWS

SONY NEWS

PC NEWS

iOS/ANDROID NEWS

GENERAL GAME NEWS

ON SALE THIS WEEK
PSN
XBOX LIVE

THE WEEK IN REVIEWS

GAMES YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THIS WEEK

[anthonydarko]

Hey, hey, hey! Anthony here for another week of the Gamer Round-Up! This week, along with the giving you the news as always, marks the beginning of the new layout! Hopefully you all like it!

TOPIC OF THE WEEK
What is your biggest pet peeve when playing online?

THE WEEK IN GAMING

NINTENDO NEWS

-Everyone's favorite game developer, Shigeru Miyamoto, has announced that he is currently heading up an "original title". While there is currently no word on what that title may be or when it will appear, perhaps details about the game may surface at E3 of the Tokyo Game Show this year. Time will tell I guess.

-After a sluggish start with the 3DS, Nintendo can take a breath of relief. Reports have come out that the handheld has found it's footing in the US, with over four million units sold in the past year.

-After reports last week about the Wii U's tablet controller potentially having apps, a new report has come out that the controller will also serve as an e-reader. The report follows that Nintendo is looking into offering access to a number of digital books, magazines and comics. There is also word that the controller could also have support for game manuals and strategy guides.

MICROSOFT NEWS

-According to reports, a serious issue involving the hacking of Xbox Live accounts and FIFA 12 is on the rise. I strongly encourage any XBL users here to read the article in the link and keep a close eye on your accounts.

-If current rumors are to be true, the next incarnation of the Xbox will debut at this year's E3.

SONY NEWS

-In the midst of reports of poor sales of the handheld after launch, reports are coming out that Japanese retailers are slashing prices for the Vita to boost sales. A circulated image is currently making rounds of a Japanese retailer dropping the price of the handheld by 17%, going from an original price of ¥29,980 ($390) to ¥24,9999 ($325).

-According to reports, it appears the PS3 will be getting a video and photo editing app in the near future. The app was reveled ahead of time by a man with a cell phone at CES, days before the show opens. Expect some sort of official announcement at CES this week.

-PS3 users got the short end of the stick this week when the developer of the highly anticipated downloadable title Amy announced that the game would be $2.99 more then the Xbox 360 version, citing foreign exchange rates and the nature of Microsoft points. Naturally there was an a slew of complaints about this so the developer has put a Facebook poll up to let the people decide if the PS3 version should be $9.99 as well, with the catch that it'll be released a week later.

-For gamers who were patient and didn't buy Gran Turismo 5, you're in luck. Sony has announced recently that they are releasing a new version of the title called Gran Turismo 5 XL, which will include all updates up to Spec 2.0 on the disc, as well as 5 vouchers for DLC. It should hit stores on the 17th this month for a cool $40.

PC NEWS

-According to Best Buy, Diablo 3 would be on your computer sooner then you thought! A display found at a Minnesota Best Buy stated that the long awaited game would be in stores on February 1st. However, Blizzard came by and smack down the rumor, stating that there is still no official release date.

-Along with being one of the best developers out currently, Bioware now has another title to their name: Guinness World Record holders! The company received the honor for "Largest Entertainment Voice Over Project", with a staggering 200,000 line of recorded in-quest dialogue. Congrats Bioware!

-Steam, the ever popular game service, celebrates its seventh anniversary with it's sale growth hitting 100% for seven years straight. Keep up the good work, Valve!

iOS/ANDROID NEWS

-According to reports, it appears Rovio had one awesome Christmas day with Angry Birds. Their massive hit was downloaded a staggering 6.5 million times on Christmas Day alone with both paid and free versions taken in account. Rovio has also announced that new releases are on the way for 2012, hopefully a version of Angry Birds with just the Black Bird and nothing but the Black Bird is one of them. I love that bird so much.

-According to the developer of the incredibly addictive Tiny Tower, the game routinely gets a million people playing the game every day. Not only that, those million people also account for over ten million sessions every day as well. Oh yeah, and keep in that this only the iOS version with the Android version's numbers not included.

-Those wanting to invest in an iPad for gaming reasons are going to get a big break in the future, if reports are correct. Reports are coming out that Apple is currently planning on releasing two new iPads this year and to compete with the recent slew of tablets on the market, Apple is reportedly planning on continuing to sell the current iPad 2 at a cool $299. In other news, this writer is going to start saving his pennies.

GENERAL GAME NEWS

-Neil Tiles, who was the president of the G4 network for past few years, stepped down from running the network on Thursday. NBCUniversal, parent company of the network, has announced his replacement to be former marketing president Adam Stotsky. No word yet on what will happen to the network in light of the change-up but rumors are swirling around that there will be even more episodes of Cops, Campus PD and Cheaters to take place of all those pesky game shows no one likes.

-If you planning on buying a three-day pass to PAX East this year, it looks like you're out of luck. Penny Arcade has announced that three-day passed for the event are officially sold out. Fret not however, as single day passes are still available.

-For some gamers, Shenmue III is the one game that they'd love to play, the game that ends the story of Ryo's quest to avenge his father. Recently, creator Yu Suzuki has expressed an interest in obtaining the Shenmue license from Sega to develop what could be the long-awaited title. It may never happen but there is hope that the game will see the light of day sometime in the future.

And finally, Gary Oldman payed a visit to Conan this past week and during his visit, he recalls his voice-over work for the Call of Duty series. Check out this link for the hilarious clip.

Well that's the week's news for you all! I was going to include a section on sales for XBL and PSN this week, however I felt it was clunky and poorly organized so it sadly got the ax this week. But fear not! The section will see the light of day as soon as I can streamline it to a more presentable level so keep your eyes peeled for the section making it's debut sometime in the future.


Also, be sure to check out the AP Video Game Thread in the Entertainment forum! Continue on the ongoing discussion of gaming in there as well as adding your gamertag to the ever growing lists for XBL and PSN. Everyone is welcome so don't be shy, post to your heart's content!

Well that's it for this week, hope you enjoyed the round up this week and I'll see you all next week for another edition of the Gamer Round-Up!

[Linda Ferreira]

Originally Posted by anthonydarko

Hey, hey, hey! Anthony here for another week of the Gamer Round-Up! This week, along with the giving you the news as always, marks the beginning of the new layout! Hopefully you all like it!

TOPIC OF THE WEEK
What is your biggest pet peeve when playing online?
THE WEEK IN GAMING

NINTENDO NEWS

MICROSOFT NEWS
-According to reports, a serious issue involving the hacking of Xbox Live accounts and FIFA 12 is on the rise. I strongly encourage any XBL users here to read the article in the link and keep a close eye on your accounts.
SONY NEWS
-In the midst of reports of poor sales of the handheld after launch, reports are coming out that Japanese retailers are slashing prices for the Vita to boost sales. A circulated image is currently making rounds of a Japanese retailer dropping the price of the handheld by 17%, going from an original price of ¥29,980 ($390) to ¥24,9999 ($325).
PC NEWS

iOS/ANDROID NEWS
-According to reports, it appears Rovio had one awesome Christmas day with Angry Birds. Their massive hit was downloaded a staggering 6.5 million times on Christmas Day alone with both paid and free versions taken in account. Rovio has also announced that new releases are on the way for 2012, hopefully a version of Angry Birds with just the Black Bird and nothing but the Black Bird is one of them. I love that bird so much.

GENERAL GAME NEWS
Neil Tiles, who was the president of the G4 network for past few years, stepped down from running the network on Thursday. NBCUniversal, parent company of the network, has announced his replacement to be former marketing president Adam Stotsky. No word yet on what will happen to the network in light of the change-up but rumors are swirling around that there will be even more episodes of Cops, Campus PD and Cheaters to take place of all those pesky game shows no one likes.
ON SALE THIS WEEK
PSN :

Playstation Plus

Free PSN Games:
Back to the Future The Game – Full Series
Sword & Soldiers

Free PS one Classics:
Syphon Filter
Syphon Filter 2
Syphon Filter 3

Discounted PSN Games: Rocket Knight – 50% off – 1/3 (PS+ Price $7.50)

Discounted PS3 Full Games: Darksiders – 20% off – 1/3 (PS+ Price $15.99)

Full Game Trials: Darksiders

Game Demos:

TNT Racers
Learning With The Pooyoos-Episode 2 Demo

Add On Content:

Resistance 3 The Legacy Grenade (free)
Resistance 3 SPRA Black Ops Skin (free)
Resistance 3 Infected Nathan Hale Skin and Taunt (free)
Champion Jockey – Music Pack 4 ($1.49)
Apples to Apples A Bushel of Fun ($2.99)
Rocksmith – Gold On The Ceiling By The Black Keys ($2.99)
Rocksmith – Just Got To Be By The Black Key ($2.99)
Rocksmith – Mind Eraser By The Black Keys ($2.99)
Rocksmith – The Black Keys Song Pack (Bundle) ($7.99)
Rock Band 3 - Various songs

quote me when you are ready.
great new format

[anthonydarko]

Originally Posted by Linda Ferreira

quote me when you are ready.
great new format

Hey, hey, hey! Anthony here for another week of the Gamer Round-Up! This week, along with the giving you the news as always, marks the beginning of the new layout! Hopefully you all like it!

TOPIC OF THE WEEK
What is your biggest pet peeve when playing online?

THE WEEK IN GAMING

NINTENDO NEWS

-Everyone's favorite game developer, Shigeru Miyamoto, has announced that he is currently heading up an "original title". While there is currently no word on what that title may be or when it will appear, perhaps details about the game may surface at E3 of the Tokyo Game Show this year. Time will tell I guess.

-After a sluggish start with the 3DS, Nintendo can take a breath of relief. Reports have come out that the handheld has found it's footing in the US, with over four million units sold in the past year.

-After reports last week about the Wii U's tablet controller potentially having apps, a new report has come out that the controller will also serve as an e-reader. The report follows that Nintendo is looking into offering access to a number of digital books, magazines and comics. There is also word that the controller could also have support for game manuals and strategy guides.

MICROSOFT NEWS

-According to reports, a serious issue involving the hacking of Xbox Live accounts and FIFA 12 is on the rise. I strongly encourage any XBL users here to read the article in the link and keep a close eye on your accounts.

-If current rumors are to be true, the next incarnation of the Xbox will debut at this year's E3.

SONY NEWS

-In the midst of reports of poor sales of the handheld after launch, reports are coming out that Japanese retailers are slashing prices for the Vita to boost sales. A circulated image is currently making rounds of a Japanese retailer dropping the price of the handheld by 17%, going from an original price of ¥29,980 ($390) to ¥24,9999 ($325).

-According to reports, it appears the PS3 will be getting a video and photo editing app in the near future. The app was reveled ahead of time by a man with a cell phone at CES, days before the show opens. Expect some sort of official announcement at CES this week.

-PS3 users got the short end of the stick this week when the developer of the highly anticipated downloadable title Amy announced that the game would be $2.99 more then the Xbox 360 version, citing foreign exchange rates and the nature of Microsoft points. Naturally there was an a slew of complaints about this so the developer has put a Facebook poll up to let the people decide if the PS3 version should be $9.99 as well, with the catch that it'll be released a week later.

-For gamers who were patient and didn't buy Gran Turismo 5, you're in luck. Sony has announced recently that they are releasing a new version of the title called Gran Turismo 5 XL, which will include all updates up to Spec 2.0 on the disc, as well as 5 vouchers for DLC. It should hit stores on the 17th this month for a cool $40.

PC NEWS

-According to Best Buy, Diablo 3 would be on your computer sooner then you thought! A display found at a Minnesota Best Buy stated that the long awaited game would be in stores on February 1st. However, Blizzard came by and smack down the rumor, stating that there is still no official release date.

-Along with being one of the best developers out currently, Bioware now has another title to their name: Guinness World Record holders! The company received the honor for "Largest Entertainment Voice Over Project", with a staggering 200,000 line of recorded in-quest dialogue. Congrats Bioware!

-Steam, the ever popular game service, celebrates its seventh anniversary with it's sale growth hitting 100% for seven years straight. Keep up the good work, Valve!

iOS/ANDROID NEWS

-According to reports, it appears Rovio had one awesome Christmas day with Angry Birds. Their massive hit was downloaded a staggering 6.5 million times on Christmas Day alone with both paid and free versions taken in account. Rovio has also announced that new releases are on the way for 2012, hopefully a version of Angry Birds with just the Black Bird and nothing but the Black Bird is one of them. I love that bird so much.

-According to the developer of the incredibly addictive Tiny Tower, the game routinely gets a million people playing the game every day. Not only that, those million people also account for over ten million sessions every day as well. Oh yeah, and keep in that this only the iOS version with the Android version's numbers not included.

-Those wanting to invest in an iPad for gaming reasons are going to get a big break in the future, if reports are correct. Reports are coming out that Apple is currently planning on releasing two new iPads this year and to compete with the recent slew of tablets on the market, Apple is reportedly planning on continuing to sell the current iPad 2 at a cool $299. In other news, this writer is going to start saving his pennies.

GENERAL GAME NEWS

-Neil Tiles, who was the president of the G4 network for past few years, stepped down from running the network on Thursday. NBCUniversal, parent company of the network, has announced his replacement to be former marketing president Adam Stotsky. No word yet on what will happen to the network in light of the change-up but rumors are swirling around that there will be even more episodes of Cops, Campus PD and Cheaters to take place of all those pesky game shows no one likes.

-If you planning on buying a three-day pass to PAX East this year, it looks like you're out of luck. Penny Arcade has announced that three-day passed for the event are officially sold out. Fret not however, as single day passes are still available.

-For some gamers, Shenmue III is the one game that they'd love to play, the game that ends the story of Ryo's quest to avenge his father. Recently, creator Yu Suzuki has expressed an interest in obtaining the Shenmue license from Sega to develop what could be the long-awaited title. It may never happen but there is hope that the game will see the light of day sometime in the future.

And finally, Gary Oldman payed a visit to Conan this past week and during his visit, he recalls his voice-over work for the Call of Duty series. Check out this link for the hilarious clip.

Well that's the week's news for you all! I was going to include a section on sales for XBL and PSN this week, however I felt it was clunky and poorly organized so it sadly got the ax this week. But fear not! The section will see the light of day as soon as I can streamline it to a more presentable level so keep your eyes peeled for the section making it's debut sometime in the future.


Also, be sure to check out the AP Video Game Thread in the Entertainment forum! Continue on the ongoing discussion of gaming in there as well as adding your gamertag to the ever growing lists for XBL and PSN. Everyone is welcome so don't be shy, post to your heart's content!

Well that's it for this week, hope you enjoyed the round up this week and I'll see you all next week for another edition of the Gamer Round-Up!

[Linda Ferreira]

Originally Posted by anthonydarko

Hey, hey, hey! Anthony here for another week of the Gamer Round-Up! This week, along with the giving you the news as always, marks the beginning of the new layout! Hopefully you all like it!

TOPIC OF THE WEEK
What is your biggest pet peeve when playing online?

THE WEEK IN GAMING

h

Well that's it for this week, hope you enjoyed the round up this week and I'll see you all next week for another edition of the Gamer Round-Up!

thanks
posted
let me know if I need to make any edits