Photos:
You can check out more pictures here:http://www.tv.com/news/game-of-thrones-season-2-in-more-pictures-photos-28191/
SIGILS:
It’s somewhat of a milestone for the open sourced media player that can play anything out of the box. Much more faster. Codenamed “Twoflower” as in reference to the Discworld character, introduces new filters like dynamic compressors and better subtitles but the one that matters is that it can run faster on mobile devices than before. For a complete list of features: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/2.0.0.html
Bioware just revealed a new game, a sequel in fact, Command and Conquer Generals 2 at Spike’s ‘Video Game Awards’ show today. Several screenshots earlier in the day were leaked but it lay unconfirmed until the official announcement was made. It will use the frostbite 2 engine, the same one developed by DICE for Battlefield 3. The debut trailer that came with the announcement can be found here: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-2011-command/724610?
and on youtube:
Here’s a basic overview of all the nine maps available in the Battlefield 3 game at launch.
Operation Metro
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: INFANTRY FOCUSED COMBAT IN SUBWAY
SITUATION REPORT: HEAVY FIGHTING IS EXPECTED AS U.S. FORCES PUSH TO SECURE THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT IN CENTRAL PARIS. RUSSIAN ANTI-AIR EMPLACEMENTS IN CHARDONNAY PARK ARE LIKELY TO BE THE FIRST TARGET.
Seine Crossing
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: VEHICLE/INFANTRY COMBAT IN DOWNTOWN PARIS
SITUATION REPORT: THE AMERICAN INVASION OF RUSSIAN OCCUPIED PARIS IS IN FULL MOTION. THE UPSCALE AREA IN THE 7TH DISTRICT OF PARIS SERVES AS THE BATTLEGROUND.
Grand Bazaar
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: TIGHT URBAN COMBAT
SITUATION REPORT: THE BATTLE FOR CENTRAL TEHRAN HAS REACHED ITS SECOND WEEK, AND WHAT WAS EXPECTED TO BE OVER WITHIN DAYS NOW CONTINUES AS RUSSIAN AND U.S. FORCES CLASH FOR CONTROL OVER THIS ANCIENT CITY.
Caspian Border
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: VEHICLE WARFARE IN LARGE VALLEY
SITUATION REPORT: A RECON RUSSIAN FORCE HAS SET UP CAMP ON THE TURKMENISTAN SIDE OF THE IRANIAN BORDER AND PROCEEDED TO TAKE OVER THE HEAVILY BUILT UP BORDER CHECKPOINT.
Operation Firstorm
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: ALL-OUT DESERT WARFARE
SITUATION REPORT: U.S. AND RUSSIA LAUNCH LARGE-SCALE ASSAULTS TO CONTROL IRAN’S BIGGEST SOURCE OF OIL. SECURING THIS AREA WILL OFFER FULL CONTROL OF THE SECTOR AND ITS KEY FACILITIES.
Tehran Highway
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: INFANTRY FIGHTING IN TIGHT CITY STREETS
SITUATION REPORT: A FIGHT FOR CONTROL OF ACCESS ROUTES NEAR TEHRAN. U.S. FORCES MAKE A PUSH FROM THE HILLS UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS WHILE RUSSIANS HAVE SET UP DEFENSIVE POSITIONS ALONG THE MAIN ENTRANCE POINTS.
Noshahr Canals
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: MIXED COMBAT IN INDUSTRIAL SETTING
SITUATION REPORT: U.S. MARINES LAUNCH A STRIKE ON A MAJOR HARBOR BY THE NOSHAHR CANALS ON THE IRANIAN COAST. THE STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT PORT ALLOWS FOR DEEP WATER VESSELS TO OFFLOAD ESSENTIAL MATERIALS.
Damavand Peak
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: FIGHTING IN WINTER MOUNTAINS
SITUATION REPORT: A RUGGED MOUNTAIN AREA PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN DECIDING WHETHER RUSSIAN OR U.S. TROOPS ARE SUCCESSFUL IN COMBAT OPERATIONS IN THE SECTOR, AS THE AREA IS HOME TO KEY RADAR INSTALLATIONS.
Kharg Island
SUPPORTED GAME MODES: ALL
BRIEF: AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT
SITUATION REPORT: KHARG ISLAND IS IRAN’S BIGGEST OIL EXPORT TERMINAL. IF THE U.S. CAN STAKE CONTROL OVER THIS ISLAND, IT WILL DENY THE RUSSIANS CRITICAL ACCESS TO IRANIAN OIL RESERVES.
The Lord’s Resistance Army are ruthless and brutal, and have plagued northern regions of Uganda for decades. Little might be known of them due to lack of media attention but they are indeed notorious and the Ugandan government has been constantly fighting them achieving minor progress in eliminating the terrorist group. LRA is led by Joseph Kony, a so called religious leader, a prophet to his followers in a way, who built an “empire” for his organisation by ravaging every village they cross upon, murdering, raping, abducting women and children. The women are usually taken from the villages to be raped in order to bear future child soldiers while children abducted are tortured repeatedly as means to “integrate” them and turn them into loyal soldiers.
From what I remember from a lecture about the LRA when I was in Uganda, common inhumane acts involved cutting the nose and breasts of women and forcing children to drink their own urine for survival. A troubling dilemma for the Ugandan government was and probably still is largely having to fight an enemy that consisted of children soldiers. It’s on thing to drop off into the jungles killing evil terrorists but it’s another thing entirely being forced to kill children carrying AK-47s because they simply had no other choice. Also drawing from memory, the reason these rebels never moved south was because of how prominent the government control was there and that bridges were blown off long time ago, leaving the capital and other important cities protected. The same can not be said for the countless people living itn villages forced hat had to fend for themselves. Reports estimate more than 10,000 people have been killed and more than 60,000 abducted by LRA.
Obama’s official decision to assist the Ugandan government in it’s campaign against the LRA came as a welcome surprise; humanitarian groups have been asking for any kind of helpful gesture from Western governments in regions from Darfur to Zimbabwe, as opposed to the usual interest-driven military actions in oil-countries. Since 2008, U.S. has been training Ugandan forces off the radar sort of speak to better fight the rebels and were somewhat successful then in driving them out of Uganda but only to have them in hiding in the DRC, its important to note that Ugandan army has had permission to continue its campaign in DRC. U.S. sending a 100 special forces this time with the sole objective of neutralising the remaining LRA there makes sense, if one would spend billions taking military action shouldn’t it be more justifiable for humanitarian reasons? In this case, it’s a hunt for the African version of Bin Laden. Conflicts like this could easily be solved by the help of a superior force and the Ugandan pursuit of Kony at least seems to be within grasp.
Now that purging Islamic terrorists around the world has become somewhat blasé to Obama, it appears he has enough confidence to launch more campaigns elsewhere expecting the same kind of success no doubt. It was reported months ago that Obama has been focusing on further establishing AFRICOM and information leaked, later confirmed about drone bases being built all around Africa. One can only deduce from that U.S. sees Africa as the next battleground and it can no longer be ignored, it is said these operations are emboldened for world security purposes but I can see Obama using this as a linchpin for humanitarian operations. Obama could be thinking about the future; Alqaeda could very well consider taking Africa as its new main base spreading its influence there if it hasn’t already, this new AFRICOM plan will not make such movements possible.
Now I don’t imagine a creeping full-on military engagement similar to that of Libya ever occurring in Africa, at most it would be predator drone killings of terrorists and we should hear of their regular use in the coming years in Africa. The benefits of drones are clear though; it’s cost effective, its Effective at completing a non-complex mission and the best part, it leaves the enemy with that discouraging feeling and psychological sudden lose of momentum. It is indeed psychologically defeating to the enemy where once traditional attacks on them would be used to rally people against U.S. as they brainwash them into thinking they are invading “Crusaders”. But for some reason, drones just don’t have that effect, something about dying from a remote-controlled NASA-inspired looking plane that just doesn’t make anyone want to avenge their death as though it were perceived as a freak accident. Well, Obama loves those “freak accidents” and he wishes to unleash it onto all who oppose world peace.
I can already see republicans expressing their disdain for the recently announced missions in Uganda and because of the economic situation no one can blame them, this is the fourth war America is in right now. Don’t get them wrong though, had Obama announced attack on Iran instead more republicans would have been open to it; that’s the difference between republicans and liberals when it comes to war.
If Ron Paul supporters think there is ever a chance for him to win the white house then they need to realise what they are really supporting. Every sane pundit agrees that his idealistic talks of a politically isolated America, free from federal regulations of any kind with States governing themselves, will not work. It’s absolute crazy to want this, obviously Ron Paul is just yearning for the life of the old days, funny thing though, his vision for the future can only have diminishing returns this day and age.
Not only that, he got it wrong; the founding fathers would never want what he’s asking for because it leaves the power in the hands of corporations and not the States like he so desires. Sure we love capitalism, but for corporations to reign free with no consumer protection or government watchdog is as close to anarchy as it gets. This doesn’t need pointing out however, Ron Paul is doing nothing to help his cause, especially not when he said he will give Iran the benefit of a doubt. And this is what brings me to the revelations of today about the Iranian terrorist plot on American soil. What would Ron Paul say to that? He wants to change foreign policy into a do-nothing policy, even if Iran goes nuclear. According to him, every nation has the right to have a nuclear bomb. Now let us look at Iran and China, two juggernauts spreading their influence, a negative influence one might add, onto their surrounding regions; they of course have their sights on some kind of world domination but no body really knows not even them. All they want is void, they want America to hide under the covers and create a void for them to occupy. Then maybe they will think about what they really want, bad intentions more likely. Had China and Iran been so eager though, they could just fund Ron Paul’s campaign, poor guy doesn’t have the cash like the other candidates, much better investment than cyberhacking and sending terrorists, at least then they will reach their goals peacefully and not get the opposite which is international retaliation.
In all seriousness, even if Ron Paul gets to be president like so many misguided youth want, he’ll never be able to change the system, actually 99% of the stuff he preaches will never pass, like ever. So give up old man, time to quit this frivolous campaign! All you doing is racking up votes that should’ve gone to some other republican. But let’s play the devil’s advocate for a second, America being irrelevant in Ron Paul’s world would have terrorists and countries like Iran leave America alone unprovoked. That’s a possibility, a rather far fetched scenario one would require carefully placed cards by all parties in order to get such a peaceful resolution. I’m talking restraint from disturbing the hypothetical new world order unintentionally created thanks to Ron Paul. Also the drug war would be obsolete.
What won’t be obsolete though is anarchy and crime as well as death driven by what once were illegal drugs. What won’t be obsolete is war around the world as major countries re-asses their position in a new world climate and create leverage for themselves, not to mention dictators preying on weaker nations and people. Let’s face it, having only one benevolent superpower evolved the world into a peaceful creature; a standard for nations to follow.
Look, the system in place now by no means perfect, but it beats the hell out of what Ron Paul has in mind. The status quo and balance could be tuned better but it undeniably gives as much power to the people and individual as possible while protecting everyone’s interests.
You heard that right, Call of duty just unsheathed its sword and told BF3 ‘hey you don’t scare me bro!’. Check out the latest Modern warfare “Tango Down” and watch it till the end, you will notice something rather familiar; a blatant joke at Bf3 blockbuster of a trailer that featured jets called Caspian Border.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Tango Down Trailer:
Did you see that? The end with the wall-e bot? There’s that reference. Hilarious…
I’m not crazy about black widow, she was one of the many fail factors that brought down Iron Man 2. Individually, they are all very weak tired characters at least that’s what their movies proved, as Thor was ridiculous concept from the start while Iron Man turned into a goofball. It will have to rely on Hulk and maybe Captain America. None of them holds a candle to Nolan’s Batman. But even before Nolan, Batman was always unbeatable in popularity and everyone saw him as a legitimate superhero. Him and Superman. I imagine if they ever decide to do a proper Justice League, it will impress much more than the underwhelming effort by Marvel with Avengers so far.
War is hell
What is that a satanic symbol I see? A pentagram could mean many things nonetheless it’s most identified with devil worship and the road lines forming it are in the middle surrounded by burning oilfields which just screams allusion to hell. The unusual yet recognisably obvious placement in the game not to mention the presentation at E3 could not be mere coincidence. The image above is taken from E3 trailer. Is DICE messing with us by putting subliminal messages of devil worship or is it part of the game’s story? I have theories of my own but right now I will just let you decide for yourself!
Ask any gamer and they will tell you games are the greatest thing since sliced bread, so no wonder that industry is flourishing non-stop, with surprisingly very few hurdles in the way. The competition is fierce too as noted in my previous posts and for the most part, good games have no problem gaining overnight popularity. Last decade, the focus was all about the hardcore gamer, you know the type the one who dedicates a big part of his life to highly competitive, may I say, really violent video games. As we embark on this new decade however, the future looks bright for the casual gamer; the new default target for the industry and that’s not a bad thing.
At first glance you might see that this breed of hardcore gamer is becoming extinct, I didn’t believe it then but now, yes he’s going the way of the dinosaurs, slowly turning into a relic of the past. Well, that was a superficial first glance, what’s really happening is them laying out the red carpet for a new hustler in town, so not an extinction just a shift. If hardcore gaming had been lambently illuminated under a basic lightbulb then casual gaming is no doubt basking under some awesome stadium spotlights. Look closer you will just see the literal social spotlight adjusting it’s brightness away from the hardcore gamer and beaming directly at the casual gamer. Take iWin for example, a game developer who are known for their popular casual games, all of which can be found on their website; www.iWin.com. Last year, IWin made front page headlines for being the first to transform a TV game show into a highly successful facebook game. In a 2010 survey results, Family Fuel game was marked as one of the most popular games on Facebook. That’s no small feat. That game has an unbelievable over 1 million monthly active users and still growing.
To understand this evolution in gaming, one would have to go take notice of all the external factors that became a catalyst to bringing games into mainstream consciousness. I was off the mark previously when I speculated games would reach mainstream popularity once they become “all too real”; but as it turns out graphics or virtual reality will have nothing to do with it. Simplicity and basic fundamentally constructed games are what’s giving hardcore games a run for it’s money. They are accessible, easy to pick up, addictive; and thanks to social networking a revival of sorts of the flash gaming stormed the internet with flying colors. Again taking iWin’s games as an example; most people might know them for their addictive puzzle game, Jewel Quest 2. You know how some books are labelled as page-turner? Jewel Quest is the equivalent, you just can’t put it down till you reach the end. It’s the addictive nature it holds on you, giving you a slight sense of accomplishment only to take it away from you in the next round. In this Indiana Jones inspired game, you have to align three or more gems by swapping them with a nearby different looking gem to make them explode, causing the background tile to turn gold. The game is a favorite of mine as I find myself engrossed in its means of bettering my cognitive skills and in its attractive simple gameplay. I also like the fact that Jewel Quest II is set in Zimbabwe where I grew up as a kid; you don’t see that often.
Simple yet fun.
There was also the introduction of new kind of consoles that helped expand the meaning of what games are and who plays them. New ways of delivering content opened doors to indie gaming that helped break the mold. There is now top notch variety out there with casual games being recognised for innovative thinking. Not all games are everyone’s cup of tea but regardless they all have some things in common; they are universally appealing, highly imaginative, interactive, cognitively challenging, competitive, addictive and the new starred feature is the social aspect. Game developers are beginning to think differently and taking a more back to basics simplistic approach, the drive here being offering people a way to have fun in unique and interesting ways, especially with their friends. Games like Jewel Quest 3 are great fun and it doesn’t take much effort from the user to be engaged in it, and something that can bring families closer.
Skeptical I was at first, but the fantastic results across platforms and game genres can not be ignored. Already we seeing massive adoption of free-to-play, nifty reward systems, motion-sensing consoles and rise of indie type games that rely on creative concepts rather than visuals. Big video game developers have plenty to learn from casual games because in order to hold gamer’s interest in the future, they got to introduce novel concepts aimed at being fun and not just keep reinventing the button mashing wheel every chance they get. At the same time, there is a lot to avoid like over-simplifying games and “pay-to-win” implementations. Incorporating the best of both worlds will be the way to do it where great heaps of visuals can merge with innovative gameplay.
Respawn Entertainment, the newly formed game development studio headed by former Call of Duty developers has just launched their new website. Long story short, they were the guys responsible for all the Call of Duty games before Activision gave them the boot in 2010. Now working for EA, they plan to strike back with an awesome game title that we have yet to see. The gaming community is eagerly awaiting any announcement concerning their first game, today we are just one step closer to getting a first look. That blurry picture along with another absurd one from their website are our only clue as to what game they are working on. What do you see? Is it a fantasy world full of castles and ruins? Could it be an alien planet?
Now after playing around with the picture I got this far:
Looks more and more like some factory or ranch kind of thing. There are wood walkway bridges at the bottom yet I see no water, it reminds me of vietnam war environment with mud water. The original photo shows a dark and cloudy atmosphere. The mountains and green field could be hint of a European or Asian location so it’s definitely not a western. It could be set on an island, I’m leaning on that. That factory or house, actually has a water tower or it could be a guard tower. And there is something busy happening on the roof, very odd shape, almost like a billboard or a satellite dish. There’s also a bunch of what I think are radio towers and there is a clear path paved out in the green field suggesting some kind of vehicle transport. The hanger door is where it starts. As for that structure in the foreground, I can only assume it’s ancient castle; could be dracula’s castle for all I know. Also is it just me or is there a human figure at the top of that structure on the balcony?
This is the other picture from the site which doesn’t tell us much:
The word “Down” or “Domn” could be significant, a google search leads me to “Domnus” and “Domnintor” which are latin words for Mister or Sir. Domintor is a King’s title derived from Domn, which means lord or ruler in Romanian language. What if this game was really about Dracula? And the image could be of a gun barrel but seeing the white pipe tube thing makes me think different; clearly it’s supposed to go through the metal hole. Is it a weapon or armour? Strong chance of steampunk elements as we have a factory or hanger and ruins. Alien technology is not out of the question, how does it blend in with the human made hanger is anyone’s guess.
Check their awesome website and be on the look out for more clues in the times ahead. http://www.respawn.com/
It’s been confirmed that they are working on a sci-fi shooter but if I had to speculate right now, I would say it’s either set in an alien world, an island, or you play as a modern day Vlad the Impaler. What would really be cool is if it’s set in an orbital, a mega-structure and it’s actually a space settlement that has relatively primitive humans; people who aren’t advanced enough to figure out they are on an alien run space station and not on an actual planet. Something close to this sci-fi concept:
Could it be a space colony?
Whatever it is I can’t wait to see it.
Sledgehammer co-founder Glen Schofield, MW3 developer, had a lot of tough things to say about Battlefield 3 and it’s performance on consoles.
“You can go out and name your engine and call it whatever you want, right, you know, I’ve done that before, I’ve seen that trick and the bottom line is, this game will run at 60 frames a second. Not sure any of our competitors will,” Schofield told AusGamers.com when asked about Battlefield 3′s Frostbite 2 engine.
Battlefield 3 developer, DICE, announced months ago that their most anticipated military game will get 30fps framerate on consoles and 60fps on PCs. While MW3 is marketed heavily on its 60fps on consoles as Sledgehammer thinks this gives them a “competitive edge”. That’s thing isn’t it; their game has little new to offer other than maintaining the same framerate. MW3 boosts a faster framerate because it uses an old 2007 engine with bad graphics, room-sized game levels, no destruction and no vehicles.
“Not sure I’ve seen any of our competitors on the console, especially running at 60 frames a second, and I’d be a little scared at this point if I was looking forward to a particular game that wasn’t on the console and running at 60.
“I think 60 is our competitive edge and you just don’t throw that away. You don’t ship an engine, you ship a game,” Schofield said.
You don’t say? The game costs $60 so we are paying 1 dollar per fps then? Is that all? Shouldn’t a game especially one that is part of such a popular franchise be hyping some other new feature?
dioxholster