Gaming Mojo

The information brought back from an interview with Brian Leahy, of Shacknews.com, revolves primarily around the matchmaking functionality in the game, but it is quite interesting. Included in the reveal are the Active Roster, Queue-Joining, and Arena Playlists.

The Active Roster

Will allow players to see more detailed information about their friends who are playing, such as what map they are in, who they are partied with, how much time is left in their match, etc. This allows the player to see all their friend information from right in the game, as opposed to using the 360 dashboard.

Queue-Joining

Will allow the player to join players during a match instead of having to wait for the current match to end. The Queue-Joining feature will attach you to the player to be joined and then bring you in as soon as the game will allow.

Arena Playlists

Players are ranked into skill divisions based on month long play sessions. Arena Playlists will only be for Slayer and Team Slayer game types, but are designed to really help people (and parties) pair up with others of their same skill level. This is a perennial issue in multiplayer and it will be interesting to see how well this addition will tackle the issue.

It seems that Bungie is really focusing some attention on the experience around the experience of Halo: Reach’s multiplayer. Those of you who still own Halo 3: ODST will get to see how well these features are implemented on May 3rd, when the closed beta launches to the clamoring masses.

Its free!! That’s right, it has been announced that MAG players will get this gratis gear on Thursday, March 25th.

The “Trooper Gear Pack”, as the new content is called, will add Flashbang grenades to the game, as well as new weapons and new outfits for to all three factions. In addition to the content, as a bonus for fans of the franchise, MAG will enjoy a double XP weekend from midnight Pacific time on March 25th until midnight Pacific time on Sunday, March 28th. Just make sure that you finish your game, because if you leave before the end, the double XP won’t count.

While it is exciting for MAG fans to get the first piece of DLC for the game, don’t rest on your laurels. Zipper says that this is just the first in a series of DLC shipments to be dropped into the battlefield in the coming months, which I’ll keep you guys posted on

Do the words Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions mean anything to you?

Well we know it is not news that there is a new Spider-Man title coming soon (reportedly sometime in 2010), but the appearance of the name has caused quite a stir. Why is this news? Because no one thought Batman: Arkham Asylum would be able to achieve the level of quality it did, and therefore we have all been given hope. Hope, that a Spiderman title can do the same.

What do you think?

I think so, this game, like with Batman: Arkham Asylum are not movie released games. These are independant from any other media influence which strips away the rushed quality of a release date defined game. Giving production companies ease and the now the time to perfect the aspects of the game that make it great. I will be looking forward to this, a future comic book based games to be produced this way. But the question is why it took companies so long to produce a comic book based game without a movie to tie it to?

IGN posted on their website today that they have learned that BioWare will be releasing more DLC for Mass Effect 2. The upcoming DLC will feature a new character, Kasumi, a stealthy vixen of the female persuasion that you will meet at the Citadel. Did the Captain order some strange? A new potential flame emerges, the aroma of jealous I smell perhaps. Here’s hoping for a cat fight.

The Kasumi content will add about an hour and a half of game play as well as some new items and you will be able to access it regardless of where you are in the story.

As a matter of note, this DLC marks the first one that Bioware will be charging for – even if you are a member of the Cerberus Network. While there is no indication as to how much BioWare intends to charge for the content, we do know that it will be available for download on April 6^thfor Xbox and PC.

Charging for DLC, how disappointing. You had as on the hook Bioware, with your free DLC’s, new armour, weaponry even access to a vehicle and then, BAM! Slaps us down with a possible new character to spice up your team, but there’s a catch, there always is.

News from GDC that Green Day: Rock Band, the latest branded entry in the Harmonix music franchise, now has an official release date. But the release sounds messy with the game hitting stores in both disc-only and ‘Plus’ editions; the later of the two ships for the 360 and PS3 only, features free song export to those systems, and six DLC tracks from Green Day.

The disc-only version will still allow song export to Sony and Microsoft consoles for a small fee. The game spans Green Day’s career thus far, features 47 tracks, three-part harmonies, and 100 collectible images as well as 40 minutes of video to unlock. Green Day: Rock Band hits the stage on June 8th for 360, PS3, and Wii

I love Green Day, they have influence in my playing but i dont believe they have the fame nor the quantity of material to make a game purely based on them. Specially competing against Metallica and the Bettles. Yes there music is more of the ‘modern’ era then the previous bands mentioned but still not a saving grace. Rock Band should look at bands like The Stones, Foo Fighters, Powder Finger. Even Bands like GnR and Motley Crue with a badass rep will get sales rolling. Bands that have made major impacts in the music industry

Another avenue could be going back to the roots of GH and RB and have a list of various artist exposing the mass quality of music instead of focusing on one band inpaticular.

Robert Bowling, community strategist extraordinaire for Infinity Ward, posted a link on his Twitter feed that leads to a website which all but says that Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be getting its first Map Pack on March 30, 2010 – if you own an Xbox 360. A few minutes later, the good Mr. Bowling Tweeted that the DLC will be released on the PS3 and PC at ” a — yet to be announced — later date.”

Its unclear around the gaming frame why this kind of advertisement will get more kits than a press release but, while the ad offers no details regarding the maps, it does say to check back soon for more information. So perhaps there is more than meets the eye to this not so sly reveal. Who knows what is to following better yet what thet’re playing at, but to say the least, all Modern Warfare 2 player get ready for some content headed your way

Harmonix have officially announced the sequel to Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band. Rock Band 3 will be released worldwide in time for Christmas 2010. The tracklist is expected to be shortened, due to royalties from certain music industry companies, being deemed too expensive by Harmonix. More details are due to follow shortly.

Batman’s divisive sidekick Robin could be making an appearance in the forthcoming Arkham Asylum 2, with early cast listings revealing the presence of The Boy Wonder. Mark Hamillis to reprises his performance as The Joker, who’s to be joined by Two-Face with actor Bruce Greenwood taking on the character.

What’s likely to prove more controversial is the inclusion of Robin, to be played by Vincent Martella who most recently voiced Hope Estheim in Final Fantasy XIII.

Warner Bros. has been coy about the news, commenting

“To our knowledge, what you asked about is inaccurate information. We are not yet discussing details for the sequel.”

True or not this inclusion will be a high talking point surrounding this game.

The DS game Scribblenauts is getting the sequel treatment as an all new game pitched for the end of the year.

10,000 extra word strengthen the game’s already sizable vocabulary, and most importantly the controls have been tightened, Fixind one of the most critisized aspects of the first game.

An official annoucement has since been made, with 5th Cell’s Jeremiah Slaczka on hand to break the news.

“The next Scribblenauts broadens the players’ experience from the first Scribblenauts through more creativity, innovation and in-depth gameplay,”

said Slaczka,

“All of these enhancements give players even greater control over how they want to play the game.”

Scribblenauts 2 is to remain a DS exclusive,further updates will be posted asap

Sorry, been a little absent with new, news updates but even though this is still a few days late fans would not have missed it

The release of Final Fantasy XIII (13) on the PS3 and Xbox 360 long awaited and ever delayed, alas no PC release

The game is a lot more linear then other titles in the series, my opinion similar to Crisis Core on the PSP (only one I have played). The story, as always is the massive strong point in this game, juxtaposed with the stunning cinematics and down right out of this world location, will not disappoint hardcore fan boys of the series. Characters have that almost human feel, even with those funky hair styles and classic Japanese resolve.

Your direction is always clean, and the path directs you in this way removing the illusion of a free roam game and directing the player to the mark destination followed by a cut scene, Final Fantasy Production 101. The sets do change and new locations are always as imaginative and well thought out as the previous, giving the player some interest in where they actually are. There is however a massive open area further into the game, this has been dubbed the ‘grind zone’ as you’ll do most of your quest and farming here, also id you want to max out your characters this will be the number one stop.

Character development give you a ton of freedom, though characters have their specific roles in battle, the way in which you upgrade them to assist in their role is up to you. But as you near the end game it all opens up allowing you to give anyone, any job you want. Alongside is the similar gear crafting system, allowing for some tough decisions whilst you try to perfect your characters.

The combat system starts off slow, introducing each element as you go along, then you’ll gain access to the complete system. This way it allows players to get a grasp of the complex battling system that is in place, although you can ‘auto-battle’ your way through, which applies a set of techniques to your characters this will get old quick. There’s nothing like the thrill of taking down an almost invincible opponent the precise, strategic battle moves. The visuals I’ll let you see for yourself, its classic Final Fantasy moves… Amazing.

This game will divide players, those with short attention spans, that love the action quick and fast, beware. This is a game that takes its time to get to the good stuff, like any classic RPG game. Put in the hours to get there and you will be engulfed in a world of bizarre magic and wonder.

Final Fantasy Review – gametrailers.com