Battlefield 3 gets live demo on US TV
Following up on a showing of Modern Warfare 3 earlier this week, Battlefield 3 got its own turn in the spotlight on the Jimmy Fallon show last night. Johan Dohl from DICE and Kevin O’Leary from EA Games joined Fallon to play through a portion of the single player mission previously shown in the Faultline series of videos. It’s the first showing of the game that hasn’t been powered by a PC. Not bad, but no-where near as impressive as the eight minute tank scrap shown at E3.
Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer shows Annihilation maps
A new Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack is on the way, offering four new multiplayer maps and a new zombie survival map set in Shangri-La. The video above takes us through some of the increasingly mad settings Treyarch have chosen for the new levels, including one set in Area 51, and another on a golf course. If snipers have a heaven, it looks like that wide open fairway. The map pack is hitting the Xbox on June 28, and is set to come to PC shortly afterwards.
Fract trailer: a first-person puzzle game that looks like a neon Darwinia
Fract is a first-person puzzle game with that looks like a cross between Darwinia and a Daft Punk video. The puzzles are pretty simple – twisting knobs or pushing buttons to match patterns – but it looks stunning and the world responds in ways that makes solving those puzzles extremely rewarding.
The game isn’t finished yet, but you can download a beta for Windows or Mac from the Fract site. Or skip below for more screenshots.
BioWare will give female Shepard her own trailer and place on Mass Effect 3′s box
When I spoke to Mass Effect 3 executive producer Casey Hudson a while back, he said they’d read our list of 15 things we want from Mass Effect 3, and “I think we’re going to address all of them except Tali’s face.” I assumed he meant “And the ones you know we won’t do, like putting the female version of Commander Shepard on the box.”
Nope! Marketing director David Silverman says they’re putting the female Shepard, and the male one, on the box for the collector’s edition of the game. And they’re now working on a new trailer for the game that stars the female version of the hero. Silverman says they’re working on her appearance, but that it’s been influenced by input from the cult fanbase the female Shepard has inspired.
Ken Levine exposes the conflict in Columbia from BioShock Infinite
After last week’s E3 bonanza, top scientists have verified that it is officially impossible to not be excited about BioShock Infinite. That’s why we jumped with joy when we saw that Irrational Games is releasing several short vignettes on Infinite that delve deeper into the game’s background and lore. Join us in our giddy, schoolgirl-like excitement as we listen to the always-articulate Ken Levine discussing the opposing factions that are tearing Columbia apart: the Founders and the Vox Populi.
Battlefield 3 pre-order bonuses will be available to all, boycott seems to be over
In a clarification posted on the official Battlefield 3 blog, DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson has stated the bonuses from the Battlefield 3 pre-orders will eventually become available to all players.
Stay on the cutting edge of Bloodline Champions with our in-depth guide to Grimrog
Tutorial videos are the best way to learn the ropes of a new character when stepping into the arena of any MOBA. You can forget the stress of trial-by-fire and just sit back and enjoy a step-by-step manual on how to own face. That’s why we’ve begun recruiting some of the top shoutcasters and video guide-makers to bring you guides to new MOBA champions as they come out. Up first, we’ve got an in-depth guide to Grimrog, the newest bloodline to join the roster of Bloodline Champions, who just went live yesterday. BLC shoutcasting all-star Kast (with a K!) is on the mic, and if you haven’t heard of him yet, let us assure you that this guy knows his stuff! Want to learn how to make your enemies kneel before your burst damaging, debuff-and-heal blasting self? All you have to do is press play.
I think I might have to re-up: look at World of Warcraft’s new map opening animation
It’s the little things, right?
And in other PC gaming news…
At 2.30 today we unveiled our new Terraria server. By 3.30 it had been attacked by invaded by a horde of infinite Goblins. By 3.45 it had crashed. Well we did tell you the netcode was buggy, still that doesn’t stop it from being hilarious fun. We’re looking forward to playing with you guys soon. Where by playing I mean dying in a million inexplicable explosions.
More news, and less goblins, beneath the cut.
Kinect development tools beta incoming
Rumour has it that the Kinect software development kit beta will be launched during a developer presentation that kicks off in less than an hour. Microsoft promised the SDK kit earlier this year, now Winrumours say the beta version of the tools will be announced shortly in a presentation to be broadcast live on the web.
Microsoft announced Kinect fun labs at E3 this year, a service designed to host the most promising community creations as downloadable games on Xbox Live Arcade. News of a Kinect SDK beta will be particularly important to budding game makers, but it also means the rest of us can likely look forward to some more weird and wonderful Kinect creations on the PC, too. Check out our pick of the ten best Kinect hacks for a taste of what’s in store.
Mass Effect 3 to have four-player co-op?
Various rumours have emerged suggesting that Mass Effect 3 could have a co-operative multiplayer mode. Eurogamer report that the co-op mode will be a “standalone” section with “competitive elements,” and could take the form of a survival mode that will have players fending off waves of enemies.
CVG say they’ve heard from “a reliable development source” that the multiplayer mode will feature “original missions made for online.” There will be a small number of missions designed to be played over and over again.
PC Gamer Terraria servers now live!
We have a brand new PC Gamer Terraria server! After lengthy debate, we decided to call it the “PCGamerraria” Join us at 85.236.100.22. Port:8477 and help us find all the floating islands and underground jungles. Help us dig a hole to the bottom of the world, and build towers to the very top. Help us raid the dungeon at the end of the word and, most importantly of all help us finally kill that goddamn Guide NPC once and for all.
UPDATE: Thanks to extreme demand and a goblin invasion, we have created two bonus servers. Click through for all the details you need.
EA on Origin future: “we’d like to be the worldwide leader in digital publishing”
President of EA games Frank Gibeau has been talking to Gamesindustry.biz about the future of Origin. He discusses EA’s enormous aims for the service, and suggests that we will see more EA games appearing exclusively on Origin in future.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation map pack announced
Treyarch reveal that there’s another map pack on the way for Call of Duty: Black Ops. It will be called Annihilation, and will feature four new multiplayer maps and a new zombie hunter level. There aren’t any screens or videos of the maps yet, but the four new multiplayer arenas are called Hangar 18, Drive-In, Silo and Hazard.
The new zombie map sounds like it could be the highlight of the package. It’s set in Shangri-La. Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia describes it as an “exotic and mysterious map filled with deadly traps, dark secrets and innovative gameplay that will challenge even the most daring Zombie hunters.”
June 28 is the XBox release date. It will come to PC shortly afterwards, and will likely be priced similar to the First Strike and Escalation packs, at around £10/$15. Thanks to CVG for the heads up.
Vertex Dispenser demo out now on Steam
The video above is a trailer for Vertex Dispenser, a new indie puzzle game in which you must surround segments of a shape to capture it, and then the colours of your captured vertices to gain power for special abilities. You don’t just fight for control of doughnuts, there are hundreds of shapes and maps to master. It’s an RTS/puzzle game that seems to be designed to melt your brain from within. RPS have word that there’s a demo out right now on Steam. Go forth and conquer those doughnuts, in the name of PC Gamer.
